Red Gold Spicy Tomato Sauce...and a Winner!

Today is the first official day of spring! Although, here in South Florida, we've been experiencing our spring since about January, and we'll be going into full blown summer, by May...go figure! This it the tropical climate that we are accustomed to. Such a wonderful weekend we had, how about that bright and beautiful full moon that only comes around every 18 to 20 years? (witnessed it and took photos)...Sunday was such a relaxing day, did not have barely anything in my fridge to cook for lunch, for my family in my little beach condo, but I always have canned tomatoes on hand, and pasta...the little ones love the mezze penne, and the spaghetti. I also found some Italian sausage in the freezer which I defrosted, so lunch did not take long. A little bit too spicy, but my little grandson eats everything, and did not mind the spicy sauce. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and got to witness the gorgeous moon that was 14% larger, and 30% brighter than your average full moon...that's what I call "romance in the air...or is it "Love is in the Air?"...remember that song from the eighties?

I still had two can of the Red Gold diced tomatoes left over from my giveaway winning, one was a regular 100% Natural diced, and the second was the Red Gold petite diced with green chilies, hot...and I do mean "hot" as in spicy hot. I also had on hand my trusty Hunt's fire roasted diced tomatoes, which I started out with.
The sauce turned out incredible, but with all these diced tomatoes in their natural juices, it called for a thickening source in which case, I used about 2 teaspoons of Hunt's tomato paste, mixed in 1/2 cup of water to add to the sauce. With, or without meat, you can make this wonderful sauce. If you can't find Red Gold tomatoes in your grocery supermarket, well, you can use your favorite brand of diced tomatoes, but you will need at least 3 cans of about 14.5, or 15 ounces.

You can start with cutting about 1 lb. of Italian, or any
other sausage of your choice into about 3 inch pieces, and saute the sausage first, in 1 Tbsp. of vegetable oil.
When it's about halfway browned, add 1 sliced onion, and 3 cloves of garlic sliced. (If you are making it vegetarian)...just saute the onion and garlic by themselves, until slightly browned, and wilted. Add 3 cans of 15 ounce diced tomatoes of your choice, and 2 teaspoons of tomato paste, mixed in 1/2 cup of water. Add salt and pepper, which is optional, since the tomato with the chili pepper is quite hot. Also, you can add fresh, or dried basil, and at this point, add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, right into the sauce. The reason for this method, is, so it can bring out the glossy texture, and the true delicate flavor of the oil.

I cooked this magnificent sauce in my large cast iron skillet...this is the true vivid color, and texture after about 35 minutes. You can cook it with, or without the sausage...also, you can substitute the sausage with chicken pieces, and follow the same method of cooking. If you are making this sauce vegetarian style, just omit the sausage or any other meats, and just cook the sauce...either way, this to me, is the best sauce...ever, that you can make with the beautiful diced tomatoes! Yumm...enjoy!


...and the Winner is!

Well, looks like the comments got stuck at #30...so it wasn't difficult for me to generate the random.org number. and the winner came to #28, which is Mateja @Indulging Life.
Congratulations Mateja, you won the fabulous giveaway book, I hope you will enjoy it! I will contact you about the shipping address.

 Saturday night was such a fabulous event, watching the basketball awards given out, at the UPWARD event, from the open stadium right by the Intracoastal Waterway. This was my sweet granddaughter's 4th year of playing in the team, and she absolutely loves it. She is such a great team player, loves to get those shots in the basket. (she is also very tall for her age, 9...nearly 5') I took this photo at 7:00PM...still light out.

The famous pink building, which is the Phipps building in West Palm Beach...a sight to "behold" when the sun is setting, with the true pink color, glistening, as the sun is going down.

Proud granddaughter, admiring her basketball trophy award!

A beautiful and pleasant weather for an outdoor award event!