Pasta Sauce (Northern)

feeds four to six, or two to three two times
preparation time: about an hour

5 Lb (about 2½ Kg) Roma or Beef (Beefsteak) tomatoes
3 Lb (about 1½ Kg) mushrooms
about ½ Lb (¼ Kg) cheese, diced (Monterey Jack, Swiss, Mozarella) - 1½ or 2 oz. for each serving
(optional) some Parmesan cheese, grated
1 Lb (about 3½ cups, 450 g) pasta (small elbow)
1 tsp sweet basil
½ tsp marjoram
(optional) ¼ tsp oregano
(optional) a little olive oil
(optional) a little butter
(optional) cucumber or a salad

Wash mushrooms, cut off some of the stem, then cut mushrooms in four or six pieces;
Bring a little water (2 oz., 50 ml) to a boil at high heat in large sautee pan, add mushrooms, stir and cover, bring to a boil (a little butter helps reduce the foaming);
Keep an eye on the mushrooms: when foam develops, lift the lid and the foam will dissipate, put lid back and lift again repeatedly to keep foam from boiling over, stir from time to time;
Meanwhile, wash tomatoes;
Put a large saucepan over medium heat;
Cut two or three tomatoes and put in sauce pan, stir, cut up remaining tomatoes in batches of two or three and add, stir from time to time;
Add basil and marjoram, optional oregano to tomatoes;
Bring tomatoes to a slow boil, let stew;
When mushrooms are almost boiled dry, add to stewing tomatoes;
Put on about a gallon of water in a large pan, bring to a boil over high heat;
Put pasta in boiling water, stir immediately to keep pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pan, stir again a few times in the first minutes;
Meanwhile, dice cheese and (if desired) prepare cucumber or salad;
Drain pasta when it's ready, optionally add ½ tsp olive oil and mix in to keep pasta from sticking;
Put cooked pasta on soup plates or in bowls, ladle sauce over it, add cheese and mix in, and (for those who like it) grate some Parmesan over the pasta.

Reducing Mushrooms

small elbow pasta

cucumbers cut

cheese diced

cheese added


tomaten champignons macaroni hear	tomatoes mushrooms small elbow pasta
kaas komkommer sla hear	cheese cucumber lettuce

"Champignons" is pronounced as the French word it is.

Preparation takes about an hour, which is fairly quick, to my standards.
I usually perpare this amount of sauce and then save half in the fridge for a few days later.
Oregano is sometimes called 'wild Marjoram,' that's why I think they're kind of interchangeable.
You might add a little butter to the cooking mushrooms to reduce the foaming.

This recipe developed from a recipe my brother wrote down for me when I started cooking for myself. Originally it started out with sauteeing onions and garlic, add green bell peppers, and then tomatoes. The basil and marjoram were already there. Later I dropped the onions and garlic, and added mushrooms. I thought it tasted better; about a year ago I dropped the (by that time red) bell peppers because of stomach upsets, and I also thought it improved the taste. A victory for simplicity.

Your chef: Marco Schuffelen more recipes (Dutch & International) Hear Dutch food words - more Dutch		I'm sorry, your browser doesn't support frames. You could ty to righ-click the 'hear' buttons to open the sound files in a new window.
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