Sun-Dried Tomato Jam

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

1 (8-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped, oil reserved
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 2 tablespoon of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until the onions are soft and beginning to brown at the edges, about 7 minutes. Add the sugar, vinegar, water, chicken broth, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue simmering until most of the liquid is reduced and the mixture is the consistency of jam, about 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Serve or store in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Strawberry Sauce

Notes: this is great dessert sauce, and also really good mixed in with lemonade or limeade. You can also use almond extract, depending on your taste/what you are using the sauce for. 

From Our Best Bites.

1 pint strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Wash strawberries, remove stems, and halve. Combine berries and sugar and bring to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up strawberries as they soften. Remove from heat and add in extract.

Allow strawberries to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender and puree. Store in the refrigerator.

Almond Joy Butter

Notes: pre made almond butter works well for a faster recipe. Just use equal parts almond butter and coconut butter. Be sure and only use unsweetened coconut; sweetened coconut will not liquify like unsweetened coconut will. 

Make about 2 cups.

2 cups whole almonds, toasted (or about 1 cup almond butter)
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1/8 - 1/4 cups chocolate chips, depending on how chocolately you want it
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sea salt, to taste (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon)

Place coconut in a food processor and process until it turns into butter, scraping down the sides as needed. This will take about 10 minutes. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Place almonds in the food processor and process until it turns into butter, scraping down the sides as needed. This will take about 10 minutes. Add the coconut butter in and process until combined. Add sea salt and vanilla and process again. Stir in the chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute. The mixture will be warm enough to melt the chocolate chips. At this point you can pulse the processor to fully incorporate the chocolate, or gently stir to just swirl the chocolate. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge if storing for longer than a week.

Lighter Alfredo Sauce

2 cups low-fat milk
1/3 cup (3 ounces) low fat cream cheese
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

In a blender or with an immersion blender, blend milk, cream cheese, and flour until smooth. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, melt butter on medium-high heat. Add garlic, and sauté for about 30 seconds.

Add milk mixture to pan. Stir constantly for about 3-4 minutes or until it comes to a simmer. Once simmering, cook a few minutes more, stirring, until sauce is thickened.

Once thickened, remove from heat. Add the cheese, stirring until melted in. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pan and let stand for 10 minutes. The sauce will thicken as it sits.

Salted Lemon Butter Caramel Sauce

Notes: this sauce is pretty lemony, and works best as a light glaze. It is really good on crepes.

4 tablespoons butter

½ cup brown sugar

A pinch of sea salt

1 lemon, sliced ¼ inch thick, seeds removed (or just the juice of 1 lemon)

Heat a medium skillet over medium-heat and add the butter. When melter, add the brown sugar and sea salt, and whisk until incorporated. Cook for a few minutes, until sugar has dissolved and mixture thickens slightly. Add in lemon slices (or juice), and continue to cook a few more minutes, until mixture is bubbly and sauce thickens to desired consistency (will continue to thicken as mixture cools).

Roasted Cherry Tomato Pesto Sauce

Serves 6.

1 pint cherry tomatoes, preferably heirloom

1 clove garlic, smashed, but still in skin

2-4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

½ cup walnuts

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

½ cup basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread out tomatoes on a small baking sheet. Add clove of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons, to lightly coat tomatoes and garlic. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast in oven until tomatoes are soft and skins begin to wrinkle, about 15-20 minutes.

While tomatoes roast, toast walnuts in oven until beginning to turn golden brown and fragrant, about 5-10 minutes.

Add roasted tomatoes, any juices from the baking sheet, and toasted walnuts to a food processor. Remove skin from garlic, and add clove to food processor. Add in Parmesan, basil, salt and pepper to taste, and about a tablespoon olive oil. Pulse until sauce begins to look smooth. If necessary, add another tablespoon or so of olive oil while pulsing until the sauce is smooth and not too thick.

To serve with pasta:

Cook 1 lb. of pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving about ½ cup of pasta water. Toss the pesto sauce with the hot, cooked pasta, adding a little pasta water to thin the sauce and coat the pasta. Serve warm. 

Sun Dried Tomato and Hazelnut Pesto

1 8-oz container oil packed sun dried tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

½ cup hazelnuts, toasted 

1/2 - 2/3 cup parmesan or romano cheese

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Put sun dried tomatoes (with oil), garlic, hazelnuts, and cheese in a food processor. Process until ingredients are pureed. Drizzle in olive oil until smooth and desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Basil Aioli

¾ cup mayonnaise

½ cup fresh basil

1 squeeze fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until well combined and basil and garlic are finely chopped. Cover and refrigerate to store.

Bechamel Sauce

2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of nutmeg

In a saucepan (or in the microwave) heat milk until almost boiling. Be careful not to scald.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Mix in flour, and stir rapidly with a spoon. Cook for 1 minute and then remove from the heat.

Slowly whisk in half of the hot milk until well incorporated. Return mixture to a medium low heat and slowly add remaining milk while whisking. Once all the milk has been added, continue to stir and bring to a slow boil. Simmer and stir until the mixture has thickened. Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Bolognese Sauce

Makes about 8 cups of sauce.

Good in lasagna bolognese or on rigatoni or spaghetti. Freezes very well. 

2 medium onions, finely chopped

4 celery ribs, finely chopped

2 medium carrots, grated

4-5 cloves garlic, finely minced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

¼ lb pancetta or bacon, diced

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 6-oz can tomato paste

1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes

2 cups chicken broth (or 1 cup broth and 1 cup white wine substitute)

1 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves

Dash of ground cinnamon (optional)

Dash of nutmeg (optional)

Dash of ground clove (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste 

1 cup heavy cream, half-and-half, or whole milk

Heat oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add pancetta, cook over moderate heat until cooked and starting to brown. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Continue to sauté until vegetables soften, about 5-10 minutes.

Once vegetables are softened and pancetta is cooked, add ground beef and cook until no longer pink, about another 10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, mixing thoroughly and cooking for about 2 minutes. Add half the chicken broth  and deglaze the pan. Add the remaining chicken broth, canned tomatoes, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, salt and pepper, all to taste. Bring sauce to a simmer, cover, and let cook. Simmer for as long as possible, until thickened and reduced, anywhere from 2-4 hours. Once thickened, add heavy cream and additional salt and pepper if needed. Stir to combine. 

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Good on pasta, chicken, or to dip crostini in. 

2 large red bell peppers, roasted and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

¼ cup fresh basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup half-and-half or heavy cream

¼ cup grated Romano cheese

2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, basil, and red pepper. Saute until garlic is softened, about 10 minutes.

Place mixture in blender and puree to the desired consistency. Return puree to pan, reheat to a boil. Turn heat down to low, add cream and Romano and stir until melted and well combined. Add butter slowly in chunks, if using. Stir until well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. 

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Way better than nutella.


2 cups raw hazelnuts

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon kosher salt (just a dash if using table salt)

2 tbsp (or more) canola or nut oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts in one layer on a cookie sheet. Roast nuts in preheated oven until dark and aromatic, about 10-15 minutes. Transfer nuts to a damp towel and rub to remove skins. Try to remove as much skin as possible.

Using a food processor, grind hazelnuts until smooth and liquefied, about 5 to 10 minutes. It may take longer, but the nuts will become liquidy.

Add the cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and salt to the hazelnut butter and mix well. While the food processor is running, gradually add oil to reach desired consistency. It should be about the consistency of a smooth all natural peanut butter.

Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Tomato, Butter, and Onion Sauce

Makes 4-6 servings. 

Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Itailian Cooking

2 cups whole, peeled (canned or fresh) tomatoes, chopped with their juices (1 28-oz can)

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

In a medium saucepan, combine tomatoes/juice, butter, onion halves, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook uncovered at a slow simmer, stirring and breaking up large pieces of tomato as needed. Taste for acidity, add a few teaspoons of sugar if needed. Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced and fat droplets separate from tomatoes. Remove from heat, discard onion.