Tag Archives: tomato sauce

Classic Spaghetti Sauce

I love fall. Love love love it. And I always have. I was that geeky little girl who was excited to go back to school. I was that geeky college student excited to go back to school. I love the crispness in the air, and sweaters and scarves, and fires in the fireplace. In New England, I always felt that fall was the only season that was bearable. And while it might not be quite as breathtaking here in California (we make up for it with the rest of the year being so phenomenal), it still makes me smile. We got our first acorn squash from our CSA last night, and I almost got giddy.

I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling excited for fall when I saw several recipes for slow-cooked , meaty spaghetti sauce popping up in my feed reader this week. Meaty spaghetti sauce is totally not a thing you cook when it’s high season summer. Meaty spaghetti sauce is fall food, and I fell for it, hard. Last night, it was the only thing I wanted for dinner. I scrapped my existing plans (I think they called for a lot of summer vegetables or something), and instead set about making my whole apartment smell garlicky and tomatoey and amazing.

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Eggplant Gratin with Saffron Custard

Slice of eggplant gratin on a white plate, with a green napkin

Oh my. Oh goodness. Excuse me while I swoon. This unassuming little vegetable gratin is definitely swoon worthy. If you’ve been facing down some eggplant, wondering what to do with it, don’t think for a minute more. This is what you want to do with it.

I made this glorious thing last week when Sean was out of town and was immediately sad that he wasn’t there to enjoy it with me. Of course, there were plenty of leftovers, since this easily serves about six people. And he did enjoy it when he got home. But the night I pulled it out of the oven, with the kitchen smelling of tomatoes and garlic and olive oil, it felt almost magical. It was that good.
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