MY DAD'S TOMATO SAUCE (OR RED SAUCE A LA DAD)

MY DAD'S TOMATO SAUCE (OR RED SAUCE A LA DAD) image

Number Of Ingredients 8

3 tablespoons of good olive oil (do not substitute for lesser quality oil)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 large (but not institutionally large) cans of whole tomatoes (cut the woody ends off if you see any)
1 lb whole chicken parts (thighs are good)
2 fat cloves of chopped garlic (cloves, NOT whole garlic bulbs)
2 cans of premium tomato paste (6oz cans)
Fresh Italian basil, oregano and mint to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

In a large heavy thick bottomed pan; take a bit of olive oil and heat it up, but don't burn it. Add some chopped onion. When the onion is sort of clear and fragrant add whole canned tomatoes. Add raw chicken parts and cook and cook and cook until the chicken completely cooked through, but not falling apart. Remove the chicken from pan, mash the tomatoes with a hand held manual potato masher, then keep on cooking until tomatoes are sort of dry and dark in color. This will take a long time. Don't get impatient. You'll need to stir a lot to keep from burning near the end, because it will have reduced to a cup or so of solids. The amount of time it takes to get to this stage depends on how many cans of tomatoes you used. But the idea is to go slow and long. Once you have reduced it to almost DRY without burning, add water to approximately the same level as where you started out with the tomatoes. Gently stir smooth and add one can of tomato paste per can of whole tomatoes. Bring slowly up to simmer again and add cooked chicken back just to reheat it. Then add chopped garlic, cook for just a few minutes (overcooking here will mush the chicken and take the flavor from the garlic, so just cook until the garlic bits are tender ). Remove from heat add fresh Italian basil and either fresh or dried oregano and mint, to taste. Salt and pepper is optional (if the canned tomatoes had salt added, don't put more in) La Voila