Provencal de Tomate

This is the first of the many Guiltless Gourmand recipes that I would be sharing with you. The last time was for the Protein Menu: Sticky Pork Ribs. This time, I am sharing with you one of the common sauces the French use. 

Used with almost anything that involves pasta or any dish that uses tomato sauce. 

Provencal de Tomate

Ingredients:

• 28 ounces tomatoes
• 1 cup button mushroom
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup black olives
• 1/2 cup onions
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
• 1 sachet tomato sauce
• 1 sachet tomato paste

What you need to do:

• Create a cross on each tomato for easy peeling once the tomato boils.

• You know it's ready when you can see tomatoes peel.
• Deseed and remove peeling.

• Chop tomatoes thinly.

• Slice black olives.

• Dice the bell pepper.

• Saute everything!

• Make sure everything is tender and cooked.

• Once cooked, divide it to two. Place the half on a blender and blend til smooth.

• Add tomato sauce in between blending.

• Once blended, bring back to boil with the remaining half of the veggies.

• Add water in case the sauce is a bit thick.

• To add color, mix in the tomato paste.

• Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Cook your preferred pasta.

• Once al dente, add on to the sauce.

• Serve with pasta and freshly baked garlic bread. Recipe for that on the next blog post. :)

The Verdict: The sauce was great! It was not the usual smooth tomato sauce you always get from restaurants. I loved the different texture the sauce had, crunchy bell pepper, tender mushroom and black olives. Sprinkle black pepper as desired! 

That is all.

For now.