Tomato Sauce and Pepperoni Rolls

Hoo boy, I am falling behind with all the crazy stuff I did lately. I hope everyone had a good superbowl, mine was good but I was pretty tired after spending most of the day running around the kitchen.

Anyway, I made this a few weeks ago and promptly forgot to post it. Which is a real shame because it was absolutely delicious and I recommend you go with it if you enjoy simple clean flavors. I will definitely make it again sometime, maybe after I've tried some other recipes. This one really reminds me of the one I used to eat when I was really little, I think maybe my grandma made it? As cliché as that sounds. And the flavor you get for the small ingredients list, as well as the small amount of cooking time.. Really satisfying.

First you mince a whole bunch of garlic.

Then you heat a bunch of olive oil and some pepper flakes. This recipe seems like it has a lot of olive oil but to quote the person I got the recipe from: " It's a lot of olive oil, but remember, olive oil is loaded with heart-healthy unsaturated fats, which raise good cholesterol levels. As long as you are not eating this sauce with large amounts of saturated fats (like tons of meat or cheese) you're golden. The overall effect on your cholesterol is even better if the pasta you choose is whole wheat." So there!

Add your garlic and cook for 2 minutes at most. Do not, I repeat, do NOT burn your garlic. Burnt garlic is bitter and awful and if you do, just start over. It will always ruin whatever dish you are making.

While your garlic is sizzling away for a minute, smelling amazing, open your cans of whole tomatos!

The recipe calls for 2 and a half of these size. I proooooobably could have just added the last bit from the third can in without it hurting anything but I didn't want to take the chance when I was making it.

Dump your tomatos in, stir it around and bring it to a boil.

When it boils, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.

While that is simmering, prepare your basil. The recipe called for 12 basil leaves, that whole package was basically just enough.

Except for that icky wilty stuff on the right. Begone.

Take your sauce off the heat and add in your basil and some salt.

Then comes the fun part. Blend that sucker up! You could do this in batches in a blender or you could use a handy stick blender like that and just do it right in the pot. See how it turned a pretty orange color from the olive oil and the tomatoes emulsifying together? Ohh the sauce is very smooth too. And very tomato-y. I added 2 teaspoons of sugar to counteract some of the tomato's acidity and honestly, I can't tell if it helped or not. It made me feel better regardless. And that's all that matters.

Serve it up on pasta with some yummy cheese. I broke out a real wedge of romano for this stuff. Oh baby.

Such a simple, perfect meal. I love love love it.

Simple Tomato Sauce (originally found here)

About 20 minutes - Makes enough sauce for 2 to 4 lbs of pasta depending on how saucy you like it

• 2 1/2 cans (28 oz each) of whole plum tomatoes or 2 cans if you can find 35 oz cans
• 6 ounces extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 leaves of fresh basil, torn into large pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat the oil and the red pepper flakes over medium heat until the oil begins to shimmer, about 4 minutes
2. Add the garlic and fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant
3. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer
4. Simmer for 10 minutes
5. Remove pot from heat and stir in salt and basil
6. Puree the sauce until smooth

note from other person: (This makes a large pot of sauce. If you are not cooking 2 to 4 pounds of pasta, it freezes beautifully. Just portion it out into individual containers (I like to freeze it in 1 1/2 cup portions) and freeze. When you're ready to use it, defrost it overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently in a small saucepan. Just don't let the sauce boil when reheating or it might separate.)

I froze my sauce in ziploc bags with in manageable sized portions, like this, on their side.

One of the things that sucked back at home was we would freeze stuff in huge portions and have to unthaw the entire thing when we wanted a meal of it. Also, if it got forgotten or unused for awhile, it would usually be very freezer burnt on the top. Freezing in a bag like this gives almost no room at all for air, so less freezer burn and you can just thaw one out for your meal instead of having to make it all!

Also, major space saver.

Yummy. Okay, and since I technically made this the day before the superbowl, I feel like I can put it apart from the superbowl post. My best friend Don, who I have known since I was 14 and who lives in West Virginia and who is my only follower on this blog (hi donnnn) had been talking about these pepperoni rolls he likes to make for occasions such as the superbowl and so on. However, I had already taken upon myself quite the ambitious menu and decided that while I originally planned to try and make them for sunday, my oven couldn't handle that many things and I just didn't need the stress. So I made them for dinner on Saturday. And they are evil. And I will never make them again. Because I CAN'T. STOP. EATING THEM. They were gone before Superbowl even started. Before the guests got here. And the ones I made on monday to use up the last of the pepperoni? Didn't last the day. Good hot, room temp and even out of the fridge. Sean loves them. I love them. You will love them too. Thanks, Don. :D

Here's what you need!

Doesn't get much more simple than that. Frozen yeast dough (make sure you get unbaked dough), pepperoni, shredded cheese. Don uses jarred jalapenos in his and I'm sure they are good but Sean's stomach is weak and I didn't want to stress it out.

Dough balls!

Proof them according to the instructions on the bag of dough! Proofing simply means to put your dough in a hot and humid environment to encourage the yeast to get happy and make your dough rise nice and high. I did this by turning my oven on to 200 degrees, shutting it off, putting really hot water in a cake pan about halfway full, putting the cake pan on the bottom rack in the oven and then putting the pan of dough in.

An hour later THIS is what happened. IT'S ALIIIIVE!

Of course, you're normally supposed to proof after messing with dough (depending on what you're doing) so as soon as I touched those big puffy beauties, they deflated. Alas!

Take a stack of pepperoni, I did 5 pieces a roll, stick it in the center, cover with some cheese.

Not too too much or it won't shut right. Then you kind of keep the stuff in the center while pulling the sides up and over and the soft proofed dough will pinch together fairly easily. Just pinch. Pinch away.

I peench!

Aw look, I got helper monkey Sean away from his games for a minute to take pictures. Yay. I need a tripod. I keep saying that.

Oh and when you take the dough out of the oven, you should preheat it for 350 degrees and once you're done with your stuffing of rolls, put them in for about 20 minutes.

This was taken after Sean and I devoured half the tray. Don't judge us. When you first pull them out there'll be a fair amount of pepperoni grease bubbling around the rolls. Don't worry about it. When they sit for a few minutes out of the oven, the rolls will soak it back up and be delicious. The bottom is kind of crunchy and salty from the grease and the top is soft and and. Evil.

After eating several I barely remembered to take a picture.

So here's the recipe.

Dough balls, pepperoni, cheese, whatever. Proof according to the instructions on your bag. Stuff. Pinch. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. DEVOUR. I won't be making these for a long long time.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully get around to posting the Oreo Fudge and Chocolate Cream Pie I made as well. Superbowl foods also later to come. Tune in next time, SAME MEL TIME, SAME MEL CHANNEL.