Michael's Tomato Blush Sauce

Updated on 10/11/2009 at 1:41PM EST

This recipe came about as many do, as I use the contents of our cabinet to determine what to make. It's like one of those television shows, like "Chopped", where a chef is given a basket with 5 ingredients, and told to make an entree in a half hour. If I could just arrange for some prize money...

Anyway, this sauce does a great job of hiding the cream and parmesan cheese by putting the bright flavor of the tomato up front. My wife prefers it with less lemon, so the recipe here reflects that choice. I tend to be a lemon maniac when it comes to pasta sauces. She's doing a good job of breaking me of that habit. It's really delicious, and I'm thinking that it may have a really nice flavor profile with brandy instead of wine. Maybe you can try that and let me know how it works!

This recipe serves 6.

Preparation:

1. Boil water for pasta. When boiling, blanch the sun dried tomatoes for 2-3 minutes to soften them. Remove to a bowl. Use this water to get your pasta of choice cooking.

2. Open the two cans of whole tomatoes, and drain the tomato sauce into a container and set aside. Then take the remaining tomatoes and rinse them under cold water to remove the seeds. You'll be left with tomato solids that don't really resemble whole tomatoes any more. That's ok.

3. Heat the olive oil over low heat with the red pepper flakes, and when it's hot, sweat the garlic. Be careful not to hit the smoke point of the oil. If you do, dump it and start again.

4. When garlic is beginning to turn color, add 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1/2 tsp salt, stir, and then add red wine. Stir vigorously to loosen all the bits on the bottom of the pan (deglaze the pan). Let simmer on low heat for 2 minutes or so.

5. Add tomato solids and sauce, 1 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp black pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

6. Use a handheld "stick" blender, blend the sauce until smooth.

7. Add almost all of the 1/2 pt of cream (I'd say, about 7/8 of the container or so) , slowly, while stirring.

8. When the cream has been blended in, slowly add the cheese in small batches, stirring until blended before adding the next batch.

9. Add the sun dried tomatoes, and use a handheld "stick" blender to blend the sauce until smooth. Leaving pieces of the sun dried tomatoes intact is optional.

10. Before serving, add the basil and blend in, or sprinkle on top of the final plate of sauced pasta.

Ingredients:

2, 28oz cans of whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano or plum)
1, 28oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 pt heavy whipping cream
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
3 oz sun dried tomatoes
2 large cloves of garlic, chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
black pepper
sea salt
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 lb parmesan reggiano cheese, grated
1 1/2 tsp chopped basil