FYI..... And a very simple tomato sauce

Before throwing my food ideas out into the internet world I asked around for some feed back for the name I chose. Lets just say I did not get rave reviews and often times a misunderstanding of the word gastronomic. No, it has nothing to do with gastrointestinal.  So, being totally unwilling to compromise the name I found to be perfect, I just wanted to take a moment and clear a few things up before I repel people with such an unpleasant sounding word.
Gastronomic: noun The practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food.
 And just to define for you one of the words that describes me best...
Glutton: noun An excessively greedy eater. A person who is excessively fond of or always eager for something.
OK! Now that I've cleared that up, lets get on with the food portion of this post! I may make people a slight bit peeved at my next comment, but I'm just gonna go ahead and say it..... I despise jarred pasta sauce. Ragu, Prego, Bertolli these premixed, prepackaged concoctions are mediocre at best. Don't get me wrong I know this is a crazy world we live in. People are too busy to eat let alone spend an hour making dinner for their families. Before, you mark this blog as "do not read ever again," let me make my point. Cooking doesn't have to be an episode of Top Chef. Most people these days are eating pre-packaged pre-cooked meals, and it doesn't need to be that way. Simple, healthful dinners can be only steps away.  Take a gander at this 3 ingredient sauce that takes as much time to make as it does to heat up a jar of Ragu!

 For this recipe you will only need:
1- 28oz can of crushed tomatoes. I usually use Cento or any Italian tomatoes like the ones pictures above (they just taste better.)
5 cloves of garlic minced
Extra virgin olive oil and of course salt and pepper and red pepper flakes, if you feel so inclined.
To save time, if you need to, start by boiling your water and make sure you salt it till it tastes like the ocean. Turn your burner to just about medium and heat up some oil and throw in your garlic. You don't want to brown the garlic, just soften it and infuse the oil, so keep the heat gentle.

 Next, add in the tomatoes and add a good pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper, and the red pepper flakes if you like it spicy, about 2 teaspoons. Bump up the heat now to medium, medium-high and let that baby cook down and lose the raw tomato taste. Of course the longer it cooks the better it will be, but a good 15 minutes will make it fabulous.

 Toss in your cooked pasta and stir it up. Depending on the pasta shape you use you might need to add a bit more olive oil to keep it from sticking together and it always makes it taste better. And there you go, bada bing bada boom dinner! Plate it up and of course don't forget the parmesan cheese!!

Just a few more thoughts.... I recently discovered Pomi, those boxed italian tomatoes shown in the first picture. I can't tell you how awesome they are! They taste like they came fresh picked off the vine, definitely give them a try, I'd say they are about 1.50$ - 2$ a box I love em! Also I realize mincing garlic can be tedious or annoying. I have two ideas. 1. If you don't already have one get a Microplane! Its a grating tool that turns garlic cloves into a paste in 2 seconds and it will also grate the cheese you pile on your pasta. 2. You could also smash the garlic cloves with the side of a knife and heat them up in the oil whole, then pull them out when your sauce is done. I know 5 garlic cloves seems like a heavty amount but thats where most of the flavor is coming from for the sauce. So, unless you hate garlic, trust me. Enjoy it and let me know what you think!