Hannah Twinkletoes ...

Pasta Sauce (continued):

seasonings are in and have had a moment or two to heat so they too can release their oils, I simply stir the transparent vegetables into the spices.

It's now time to return the meat to the pot.  You can just dump the meat in on top of the vegtable; no one is ever going to know you did this if you don't tell.  Stir to blend the meats and vegetables together evenly.  Turn the heat up to high and add a couple cups of water.  As the water begins to warm you can add the canned tomatoes, olives, stock or bouillion cubes and the remaining dried herbs.  You should wait, though, before adding the wine.

As soon as the heat in the pot starts to low boil turn the heat source down to very low.  You are done!  Now you can put a cover on the pot and go do whatever you want to do over the next few hours.  Only occasionally, when you happen to be near the kitchen will you want to pop in and stir the pot so that the sugars don't burn to the pot bottom.

About an hour before you plan to serve the meal you will want to finish seasoning the sauce.  You do this by first removing the bay leaves, which should be floating near the top, and discard them.  Some oils have floated to the top and they, in truth, look rather unappetizing.  It is easy enough to remove them by placing a piece of stale bread on top of them.  However, there is no need to remove them as they are not burned and indeed do add to the flavor of the sauce.  Raise the heat up to a medium flame and stir well before you taste-test.

Now its time to pour yourself a glass of that wonderful Burgandy and get ready to taste your sauce.  Use a small piece of fresh bread dipped into the sauce to taste the results before seasoning with the salt and pepper.  Once you're quite

satisfied with the taste it is time to add the remaining wine and also to add any fresh chopped basil.  One more taste to test the pot and, if it meets your expectations, then lower the heat and return the lid to the pot while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Serving Suggestions:

On the evening of the initial cooking I usually just serve it over a nice al dente pasta with a bit of spinkled cheese on top and plenty of fresh bread and wine.  After the meal I package the remaining sauce for storage or perhaps prepare future dishes in which the sauce is a key ingredient.

In total I am able to achieve 5-7 meals from this one cooking and I don't think that is too bad considering my total time spent was less than 2 hours for all the meals combined!

By adding more water to the sauce after it cools, you can make to freeze: Lasagna, Cannaloni, Rigatoni and cheese or you can just freeze the sauce and use it as needed.  Although the initial cost looks to be a bit much the over all benefits of multiple meals offsets it.  This recipe will make enough sauce to feed two very hungry hobbits for a full week and that is not small change by any means of the imagination.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Assembling Additional Main Course Dishes:

Well, I already spoken of a simple pasta sauce so we will just skip over that.

Lasagna: If using a dried pasta you will need to add about 1 cup of water to the amount of sauce you plan on using but if you are using freshly made pasta no additional water is necessary. Don't forget to add a bit more salt though.  Lasagna is an easy layered main course dish to prepare in advance.  You will need a casserole dish with high sides.  Butter the bottom and sides of

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