Red sauce a la Ryan!

Bonjour mes amis!

Ryan and I have made a LOT of this sauce this year. We've been freezing it in meal-sized tubs, but we plan to start canning it so we can a) have it anytime without having to thaw it out and b) give it as gifts because it's SOOO good! But of course, you won't need us to give it to you... you'll have already made plenty for yourselves.
But, you ask, what is the key to this magnificent sauce that is SO quick and easy? My friends, it is the hand blender! Decker introduced me to the magnificence of the hand blender and she is SO right! We bought ours here, and have been impressed with the three attachments. The whisk is great for making salad dressings (we don't buy our own salad dressing anymore - it's all homemade!) The mini-prep processor isn't so great for chopping. But it's amazing for making sauces, dips or anything that needs to be minced. We've used it for aolis, minced garlic and sour cream dips! Yum! But I digress. The real reason we're all here is for the hand blender attachment:

Ryan's Red Sauce (meatless):
1/4 cup olive oil
1 med onion, roughly chopped
1 handful of fresh basil
1 28 oz. can of whole San Marzano tomatoes (this is IMPORTANT!). These tomatoes are imported from the San Marzano region in Italy. We get them for super-cheap at the discount supermarket near our house, or at Costco, or at Whole Foods, so they're definitely available. They make ALL the difference.
salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat olive oil on stove over medium heat.
2) Add onion and saute until onion is clearing
3) Add basil and saute 30 seconds or so until basil is bright green
4) Add can of San Marzanos and heat until sauce is bubbling
5) Blend with hand mixer (or in a blender if you're lacking a hand mixer) until smooth
6) Salt and pepper to taste (this is important too! salt brings out the flavors of Italian cooking.)

Enjoy over warm pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

If you want to meat it up:
Saute a diced onion in about 1 Tbs olive oil
When onion is clearing, add 1/2-1 lb ground meatloaf mix (veal, pork and beef)
Once the meat is cooked and crumbled, add your batch of sauce from above. Cook a few more minutes to allow the flavors of the meat to infuse the sauce.

Bon Appetit!