The Crabby Cook - by Jessica Harper

So, after I bitched about what a pain it is to make lasagna, my  friend Jeffery told me to stop whining and try his recipe, which he swears is delicious and
“easy, but not speedy.” Now, to me, if a recipe is not speedy, it ain’t easy, but then, I’m a crabby cook, and Jeffery is one of those admirable people who understand the expression, “the joy of cooking.”

I stored Jeffery’s lasagna in my Recipe Red Alert file, where I keep all daunting recipes. But I also jotted “Make J’s lasagna, you lazy cow!” on my To Do list, right under “Organize your sock drawer, you slob!” and other abusive reminders. And today, suddenly, I succumbed to Jeffery’s (and my own) pressure. I’m making the damn lasagna.

Well, I’m starting to make it. See, that’s The Hell Of Lasagna. It’s got recipes within the recipe. Jeffery’s requires TWO sauces (which is better than some which call for three), not to mention a roasted chicken. So I’m taking it slow. Today, i made the red sauce. Tomorrow I’ll take another step, making the white sauce maybe, or the chicken, depending on my mood. Hopefully by week’s end I’ll have a final product.

Tomato Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large red onion, choppe

3 pounds fabulous tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook till soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, raise the heat a little and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the sauce thickens and tastes delicious.  Pour the sauce in the food processor and pulse until it’s almost smooth but still kinda chunky. Taste, and add salt and pepper as desired.

Yield: ABout 5ish cups

Note: This makes a sweet, mellow sauce. If you want somthing more zingy, Jeffery suggests recipes by Marcella Hazan or Mario Batali.

Okay, that’s it for today. Click here for Day Two, here for Day Three, and here for Day Four. Yes, it’s a living hell.

Tags: lasagna recipe, tomato recipe, tomato sauce

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