Tomato Sauce with Fennel
When my first son Jack first tried to say my name (Tierney) he pronounced it “tony” so from then on I was known lovingly by my husband and son as “mama tony”. So I found it fit to call my favorite way to make tomato sauce mama Tony’s. Anyway this recipe is my go to for pasta when I want a marinara sauce with some extra pizzaz. I developed it out of making many different tomato sauce recipes. My secret ingredient is whole fennel seeds mashed in a mortar. I find that I really miss the fennel flavor now if I don’t add it to my sauce. And I also always add an anchovy or two. If you don’t like anchovies because you’re afraid it will taste fishy, trust me it won’t. Anchovy will add a deep, almost earthy, savoriness.
Servings: about 6-8 servings of pasta (enough for about 1lb of pasta)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
kosher salt (I use Diamond brand, Morton’s is a little saltier in flavor)
ground black pepper
1 medium sized yellow onion (or vidalia) minced
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tbl tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1-2 anchovy filets packed in olive oil, rinsed and patted dry
1/2 tsp of fennel seeds crushed
1/2 cup of dry white or red wine (a Sauvignon blanc or Cote du Rhône work well)
1 28 oz cans of Whole peeled San Marzano Tomatoes
1 28oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
Steps:
1- Heat a medium sauce pan or Dutch oven over medium heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmery. Add your onion and a good pinch of salt and cook stirring occasionally until translucent, about 7 min. Adjust heat as needed so as not to brown the onion.
2. Add the anchovy, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and crushed fennel seeds and let the anchovy melt and the tomato paste caramelize while stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes.
3. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan. Let it simmer until reduced by half or until you can’t taste the alcohol anymore, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the whole tomatoes and their juices along with the crushed tomatoes. Break the whole peeled tomatoes up a little bit with the edge of a wooden spoon. Add a pinch of salt.
5. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat to keep a steady low simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes or up to an hour. Taste and add salt until you can taste the different flavor notes you added (garlic, fennel, etc.) If it tastes too acidic for you add a tiny bit of honey or a pinch of sugar. If you need more brightness add a squeeze of lemon juice. Tomatoes can take salt well, so don’t be timid if you think it could use a bit more salt.
6. Remove the bay leaf and add any al dente pasta to the pan to soak up the sauce or you can use the sauce for lasagna.
