My latest addition to Barrow Bay Living is a Pomodoro (Red Sauce) recipe. This recipe is compliments of the kitchen of Casa Gregorio and Chef Valerio, in the ancient walled village of Castro dei Volsei, Italy.

There are no secret ingredients. Making a great sauce doesn't need to be complicated or time-consuming; the ingredient list doesn't need to be exotic. This recipe is neither complicated nor exotic, just tomatoes (fresh or canned, and yes I said canned), a few vegetables and seasonings. 

But the taste? The taste is a wonder! 

You can make this recipe in less than an hour! Double or triple it! It loves the freezer too.

Even the simplest of recipes need a bit of help, as nothing is full-proof. The sauce is easy to make, but take a glance at these tips that will help super-size your flavour.

 1) Carrots are a key ingredient. Tomatoes are acidic, and the natural sugar in carrots neutralizes the acid. If you cannot include carrots, add sugar as indicated in the recipe notes.

2) Garlic is a key source of flavour. Make sure you don't overcook or burn the garlic, as it will take on a"toasted" taste that you don't want in your sauce. This also applices to onions and carrots. So for the short period of time that these ingredients are being sauteed, do youself a favour, and "pot-watch".

3) If possible, use fresh herbs. Fresh parsley and basil add unique flavour that you can't easily get from dried herbs. Fresh herbs can be purchased by the bunch at your local grocery. If you can't use fresh, substitute fresh parsley with ¼ teaspoon dried, and fresh basil with ½ teaspoon dried.

4) Do not under or over-simmer your sauce. The sauce will reduce fairly quickly to a thick, flavourful delight. But if you serve it too soon, it will be runny and will lack flavour. If you cook it too long and it becomes too thick, simply add a bit of boiled pasta water.

5) Salt should be added to your pasta water, but taste-test the salt content of your sauce before adding salt to your pasta water.

Serve this sauce over pasta, use it when making Chicken Parmesan, or other dishes needing pomodoro/marinara sauce.

Recipe

• 2 tablespoon(s) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 carrot, shredded
• ¼ cup(s) finely chopped onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 - 28oz/796ml tin diced tomatoes
• 5 leaves Italian flat parsley
• 3 tablespoon(s) finely chopped fresh basil

Directions