Recipe(tried): Pomodoro Sauce (Joe Bastianich recipe)

Not all tomatoes are created equal, Ken. If you're using standard variety garden tomatoes, they have quite a bit of water in them. To get a thick sauce, you'll have to cook it quite a while, maybe all day. If you have fresh Roma variety tomatoes, they have much less water and shouldn't need as much cooking time.

The following recipe for pomodoro sauce I recently discovered is by far the best I've ever made. The famous restauranteur and son of Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich, recently demonstrated the recipe on the Today Show. I use high-quality San Marzano canned tomatoes in it, the one by Simpson Imports from California. Cento brand is also good. San Marzanos are the Cadillac of tomatoes, sweet, low acid, and meaty. They're worth searching for.

I also add fresh basil to the sauce, some at the beginning of cooking and more at the end.

POMODORO SAUCE
Source: Joe Bastianich

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
3 cans (16 ounces each) peeled whole plum or cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon of Sicilian (or other dried) oregano [Joe prefers Sicilian.]
1 teaspoon of salt, to taste
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Crush two garlic cloves with the heel of your hand. Add to olive oil and saute until golden brown.

While the garlic browns, pour the tomatoes into a bowl. Squeeze with your hands to break them up.

Once the garlic is browned, add tomatoes and their juice and oregano to the saucepan with the garlic. Simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, adding water to keep the sauce from becoming too thick. Pomodoro sauce should be a rich red color. If it turns brick red, it's too thick. Salt and pepper to taste.