Let FX's "The Bear" be your guide to pomodoro perfection
There is much to love about FX/Hulu's The Bear. The writing is superb. The characters are fully realized. The performances are noteworthy. With all of those award worthy attributes, often it is the food that stands out above them all.
Just viewing the creations that came first from The Original Beef of Chicagoland's kitchen and now the newly opened The Bear's (sorry for spoilers, but you should already be watching) makes my mouth water.
I would not even try and play myself to attempt to recreate Sydney's cola braised short rib and risotto. But when Carmy turned over the index card his late brother left for him to discover the Berzatto family spaghetti recipe, I thought to myself, "I could make that."
And make it I did, albeit with a couple of minor tweaks. The biggest difference was that instead of using this:
I used these:
Leftover at the close of one week's Austin Town Hall City Market, these locally grown heirloom tomatoes were soft, squishy, and oozing their juices. They may not be sellable, but they were still very edible. I could not bear (ha ha ha...see what I did there) to toss them, so I decided to sauce them.
Was the substitution the right move?
I put the overripe tomatoes in a roasting pot with olive oil, garlic, and diced onion.
Then I slow roasted it at 325°F for about an hour.
With the tomatoes good to go, I was ready to make the f**king spaghetti
Ingredients
2 28oz cans San Marzano tomatoes OR 3-5 lbs fresh tomatoes, roasted
1 large yellow onion, halved
1 small yellow onion, diced
fresh basil
15 cloves of garlic, divided
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ cup butter (optional)
½ cup olive oil, divided
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Get your ingredients from Forty Acres Fresh Market
Order a $20 Veggie Box and request 3lbs of tomato, onion, basil, and garlic.
Check for the latest information on Forty Acres Fresh Market produce stands and popup markets
Directions
Roasting Tomatoes
Preheat oven to 325°F
In a large oven safe pot, combine fresh tomatoes, diced onion, and 5 crushed garlic cloves
Drizzle generously with olive oil (~¼ cup)
Roast for approximately one hour, until tomatoes have burst and juices have reduced
The Sauce