Homemade Pesto & Red Wine Spaghetti Sauce

Three weeks ago my very fertile tomato plant produced so many tomatoes at one time that I had to make a choice: either give some away or make spaghetti sauce.   You know what I did, don't you?   I made the sauce, of course!  I love being benevolent but I also love homemade spaghetti sauce!

Let me tell you, that jar stuff can't touch homemade!  When you find or come up with a good homemade sauce, there's no looking back.  I make my sauce from scratch a lot and it usually turns out good, but this time it turned out GREAT!   I think the difference was in the herbs.  I always make it with dried herbs but since I have them in the garden now I decided to go with fresh herbs.   It could have also been the fact that I used honey in my recipe this time.   I've fallen in love with Tupelo Honey so I've been trying it out in a few of my recipes in place of sugar.  I liked the results so much that I'll never use sugar again if I can help it.   Whatever it was that made the difference in the flavor, it's a welcomed  improvement so this recipe is  replacing my old one.   I love it so much that I  made it yesterday along with some Pesto and gave it as a house warming gift because I am confident it's good!   Only this time, I added a little red wine to the sauce to spice things up a bit.   The red wine just took it over the top!

Since this is an Urban Farm Girl original I didn't measure anything, so I don't have exact measurements for some of the ingredients.  As long as you don't use a heavy hand when adding the Worcestershire Sauce, olive oil, and honey, you can't go wrong.

First things first though!  Peel and chop 14-16 tomatoes. I grew two different types this year and I used them both in this recipe. One is a big beef tomato and I am not certain what the other one is.  They look like plum tomatoes only bigger.

Next, I chopped 1 small sweet onion and 1 small green bell pepper, then sautéed them in about 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil on medium - high heat until tender.  Awww, look at that little cute green bell pepper in the picture?  I grew that!   I 'm sorry, I just had a moment.

                               

At this point I crank up the heat a little and add my tomatoes. I like to cook my tomatoes on high first so they don't release water too soon. Sauté for about 3 minutes.




                                   

Reduce heat to low and add 1 can of tomato paste, 2 cups of water, about 2 tablespoons of honey, about 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce, about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 2 bay leaves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. While the sauce is simmering, break out the food processor and chop up a hand full of fresh basil, thyme, oregano, a few sprigs of rosemary (oops, I forgot to add it to the picture), and about 3 large cloves of garlic. Add to sauce.

Oh my goodness, the smell is divine! I wish you could scratch and sniff this photo!


                                                               Almost forgot!


                             

Red wine spaghetti sauce should have red wine in it right?

I think a 1/8 cup will do nicely! Add a little Kosher Salt and crushed black pepper to taste. Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes more and it's ready to serve! But in this case, I let it cool completely before I packaged it because I am giving it as a gift.

Homemade Red Wine Spaghetti Sauce  

Now for the Pesto!  I'll make this short and sweet because it's as easy as 1-2-3!

For this recipe you'll need:

• about 2 cups of fresh basil
• 1/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup Pine Nuts
• Kosher salt & crushed black pepper

1.  On medium heat roast the pine nuts in 1/2 tablespoon of the Extra Virgin olive oil.

  

2.  Toss the pine nuts, garlic and Parmesan cheese into the food processor and puree.  Add the remaining olive oil during the process. 

3. Add Kosher salt & crushed black pepper to taste.

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Homemade Pesto!  It's so good!

That's it!   Presto... we have Pesto!

Homemade gifts make such a beautiful presentation!

Congratulations again Mr. & Mrs. Tillman on the purchase of your first home!   We're so happy for you!

Love, the Mitchell's & Rosenberg's!

Urban Pastures Red Wine Spaghetti Sauce

14-16 ripe tomatoes, cleaned and peeled

about 2 tablespoons of  honey

about 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire Sauce

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 small green pepper

1 small onion

 2 cups of water

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 small can of tomato paste

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of rosemary and a handful of the following herbs: thyme, basil, and oregano
1/8 cup of red wine
salt & pepper to taste

Chop 1 small sweet onion and 1 small green bell pepper, sauté vegetables in 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin olive oil on medium-high heat until tender.  Turn heat to high, add tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes.  Return heat to medium, add tomato paste, water, Worcestershire Sauce, honey, bay leaves, and remaining olive oil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  In a food processor chop herbs and garlic. Add to sauce along with wine and simmer for 15-20 minutes more.  Enjoy!

Makes 2 1/2  pints.  

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