Food Network Chef's Cooking Challange

Sarah at I Blame My Mother is doing a really cool weekly series where she makes a recipe from a different Food Network Star and then reports back on how it went and how she liked it! She has a link at the bottom of the posts so that other bloggers who want to join in can link back to their posts.

This week is Alex Gaurnaschelli. I'm a huge fan of Alex's show The Cooking Loft, and have made her 10 Minute Tomato Sauce a few times. In fact, I plan to make it tonight with ravioli!

Here's the recipe:

Directions
My mother used to make this sauce and throw browned pork chops in for a few minutes and serve them swimming in the sauce. I love, as well, to add a steak or two for extra fun!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, peeled, grated
5 cloves garlic, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices
Kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper
4 Roma tomatoes, cored, halved and diced
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dry oregano
1 (20-ounce) can whole tomatoes
1/2 cup basil leaves, stemmed and washed
5 small NY strip steaks, bone-in, if desired

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic slices and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the fresh tomato, sugar and oregano. Stir to blend and add the canned tomatoes. Cook for an additional few minutes over high heat, stirring from time to time. Taste for seasoning, add the basil leaves.
After the sauce has finished cooking, cook the steaks using your preferred method. Add the steaks to the hot sauce and allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Cook's Note: Like any tomato sauce, it always tastes better after it has had a "night's rest" in the refrigerator.

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly. I normally do this when I try something new. The second time I made it, I tweaked it a bit, and also didn't cook steaks with it. We just had it with pasta. I think its okay to use any type of tomato you like. We have some growing in our garden, and I'll use a mix of what we have. I also added a little tomato paste the second time around, because my fiance likes his sauce a little thicker than this recipe turned out the first time. I also added more garlic, because I'm Italian like that. I'd certainly recommend this sauce, and Alex's show! She's great!