Rose Sauce For Love

I love Valentine’s Day. For me, it’s not a day for buying extravagant gifts or being anxious over having to impress someone and meet expectations for what the 14th of February is marketed as. It’s just a day for celebrating love in all forms: love for family, friends, pets, myself, my life, etc.

Every year I do whatever I feel like doing to treat myself: some years I get takeout, go to a bakery for my favorite pastry (Italian rainbow cookies), or just relax at home. This year I wanted to cook myself dinner and eat in front of the TV, and for that I chose pasta with a cream tomato sauce.

This sauce is essentially what you would see on a restaurant menu as “penne alla vodka” or vodka pasta sauce. But I skip the vodka, because I usually don’t have it on hand, and because when it cooks out, it’s as if you didn’t add it in the first place. If I have vodka and want to make a vodka sauce, I use 1/2 cup and don’t evaporate it all the way. But that’s a recipe for another time.

Contrary to a lot of recipes for this type of sauce, I don’t use tomato paste. Honestly, I find it too strong, and it also gives me heartburn. But the thickened texture of a paste is key to this recipe, so I use a humble can of crushed tomatoes and cook it until a lot of the water evaporates. I also intentionally use a large skillet instead of a saucepan – more surface area makes the water evaporate quicker. The result is a very thickened sauce that’s not as concentrated as tomato paste.

I also add anchovies, because I love the flavor they give to any tomato sauce. When you add the fillets to a hot skillet of oil, they disintegrate but add such a meaty and savory flavor.

Blush Rose Pasta Sauce
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 a medium onion or 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 4-6 anchovy fillets
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
• Heavy cream, as little as a drizzle or up to 1 cup
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
• Handful of chopped parsley or basil
• Salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil.

2. Add onions, season with salt, and cook until soft. Add in the garlic and cook for a good 6-10 minutes – they should be very soft and almost melting into the oil.

3. Add anchovy fillets and let them disintegrate.

4. Add as big a pinch of red pepper flakes as you like. Cook for another minute or two and then turn off the heat or else the tomatoes wll splatter at you.

5. Stir in crushed tomatoes cook for 30–45 minutes on medium-low, stirring occasionally, until its thickened considerably.

6. Add in as much heavy cream as you like – about 1/2 cup to 1 cup will turn it into an orange-y blush sauce. Let the sauce bubble for another 5 minutes.

7. Turn off the heat and stir in fresh herbs of your choice and grated cheese. Taste for seasoning – it’s likely you’ll need to add salt.

This amount of sauce makes for one pound of pasta (any shape you like – penne, ziti, rigatoni, etc), but I am usually just making a portion for myself and topping it with sauce. Drain al dente pasta, pour into the bowl you’re going to eat out of, and stir in however many spoonfuls of sauce you like. No need to cook the pasta with the sauce over the stove here.

For a rainy day: This sauce freezes incredibly well, and it’s why I love making a full batch every time. Transfer sauce into a freezer bag and thaw when ready to use, then just heat up in a saucepan and serve.