Italy!

Hello!

Long time no post eh? So very sorry about that! I feel awful! :(

I have been meaning to post for the longesttttt time. Its not that I haven't baked its just that I haven't had time to 'process' the images and post about them. I have had so much stuff going on this past month...which I hope to catch up on soon! Aside from working full time,I had my first order (cupcakes for a friend's sister's baby shower), I also had to plan our trip to Italy and go on the trip (it was amazing!) and I also had to get my books for back to school and a bunch of other things in between. So, as I was sorting through my photos trying to figure out which to post first, I decided to just post my most recent item, what I made for lunch yesterday! :)

Italian Style Tomato Sauce from fresh tomatoes! (with pasta of course ;))

Today Ill just talk about Italy. Oh my god. It was wonderful. Even though so many things that could have gone wrong with our trip did (thanks a lot aircanada vacations! **glares**) we still managed to have a pretty good time. Rome was beautiful and quite breath takingly amazing. My parents werent THAT excited about going to Rome. (They had lived in Paris for almost 2 years and thought Rome would be the same: a few big sites and that was it....over with in 2-3 days tops.) But they were in for a big surprise....when they say Rome is the eternal city...they weren't joking! There was soooo much to see and do there! In fact, my parents are planning on maybe going back in December! (of course...we wont be taking air Canada vacations if we do go! -_- )

freshly picked basil from my garden

Anywho, on to the best part....the FOOD. The food was absolutely amazing! SO yummy! I loved their pizzas and pastas and oh my god....I am in LOVE with Gelato. I am going through withdrawal right now since I had about 2 scoops a day while we were in Italy! Yes....thats a lot of gelato....BUT I WANT SOME NOW!

Anyways, we especially loved their pasta with tomato sauce....it was SO good....we practically lived off that stuff. We have been back for less than 2 weeks, and were craving its tomato-ey goodness:)

Two types of Olive Oil and Italian Pasta

So yesterday, I was going to make some pasta, but the old canned kind that was always so perfect...now just wouldnt do....its horrible how you are so happy with something...then you find out it can be so much better....and you are no longer happy with what you had:(

So, being adventurous I set out into the kitchen to make us some Pasta with homemade Italian tomato Sauce! It took some searching but I couldn't find what I wanted exactly ....they were all either too simple...too difficult...or didn't use fresh tomatoes! (We bought an entire box full of Roma Tomatoes!)

So, I adapted my own from a few different place I found online. So here it is,

Italian Tomato Sauce made with Fresh Tomatoes

Ingredients:

* 14 Tbsp Olive Oil (7/8 cup)
* 1 red onion
*5 garlic cloves
*200 ml water
* 1/2 cup fresh basil (chopped)
* salt and Pepper
* Tomatoes (about 15 Roma Tomatoes ) -- or about 28 oz of other tomatoes

1) Heat oil in a large pan on low. while heating up chop the onions up and fry them for 7 min. When the onion is cooked for this long it gives the sauce its sweetness. When onion is cooked it should be caramelized slightly and translucent.

2) Chop up the garlic really small and add to pan and cook for another 2 min.

3) Add 3-4 generous pinches of freshly grounded pepper.
and 4-5 pinches of salt. (To taste)

4)Add the prepared tomatoes (see below how to prepare them). Leave them to cook for 20 min. Add a bit of water to it if you feel its going to burn.

(Befor the 20 min)

5)Add the 200 ml of water and stir gently for 2 min. Sauce should be thick but not watery. Add your basil and gently stir it in.

6) Reduce the heat and cook for 10 min. This concentrates the flavour. Add water if needed.

Enjoy!

This recipe was mostly based off this video, so watch and enjoy! Videos always help :)

Prepare Tomatoes:

(in hot water)


(in cold water)

(It peels away easily)

1. Dunk your Tomatoes into boiling water and carefully remove after 30-60 seconds.
2. Immediately drop tomatoes into cold water to stop the cooking process.
3. Peel off the skins of the tomatoes and de-seed them and get out the extra juices. (A bit of juice is fine)


Well that's it for now! I *promise* to try to update some more ASAP!

Hope everyone had an amazing summer! :)