Famous Pasta Sauce

This recipe has been served from Sacramento to Chicago, Jacksonville to St. Paul, and Spokane to Atlanta, and no one has died yet, at least no one that I know of.

Start with a deep frying pan, preferably with a cover.

Dice 1 medium onion, and mince about 6 large cloves of of garlic (you can put in lots more if you love garlic or have vampire issues...I do!)

Pre-heat the pan over a medium heat and add about 2 Tbsps of extra virgin olive oil.

Throw the onion in and saute it until it is softened and a dull yellow color, then add the garlic and allow it to heat up (Be carefully not to let the garlic burn)

Add one large can, or two smaller cans of tomato product. It can be diced, crushed, stewed, sauce...whatever. Fresh tomatoes work even better, 6 to 10 cut into quarters should do, depending on their size.

Add at least a Tbsp of basil and at least a half Tbsp of oregano, again, more if you would like, and if you can get fresh herbs it is always a good thing.

Once the mixture comes to a light boil turn the heat down to low and simmer for about a half hour. It will take longer if you are using whole large peices of tomato, especially fresh, as it takes longer for them to cook down. Here is where the cover comes in handy, it can keep the clean-up to a minimum.

Now the fun begins...and you can add lots of good stuff.

Optional ingredients: 1/2 cup of white or red wine
1/4 cup of clam juice
A can of minced or chopped clams, juice included
A half pound of shrimp or scallops, maybe both!
White clams or mussels, about a dozen of each, depending on size
A pinch of red pepperflakes...be careful, these guys are powerful!
You should add any red pepper flakes when you add the other herbs.

While to sauce is simmering cook a pound of pasta, I generally use a string variety like linguine, to a nice al dente. Once the pasta is cooked it is a great time to add any fresh seafood to the sauce, as you don't want to overcook it.

Put the pasta in a large, wide and rather flat, pasta bowl, pour the sauce over the top, no need to mix it in, and drop a liberal amount of freshly grated parmesan or asiago cheese over the entire bowl. Sprinkle a few fresh basil leaves (chopped) over the dish and you are good to go.

If this recipe stinks, it is obviously not the fault of the recipe itself, as it has been tried and tested nationwide.