Venetian cooking

I was in the local Oxfam shop yesterday and discovered a copy of Taste of Venice: Traditional Venetian Cooking by Jeanette Nance Nordio. I bought it for a number of reasons. I love reading the books of Donna Leon with her wonderful descriptions of meals en famille in Venice, the book was beautifully illustrated and finally, I am looking for new recipes to enliven our mealtimes. So far, I have been rewarded with a recipe for a tomato sauce and one for Italian sponge cake, both of which I will make today! I have looked on the Internet for Jeanette Nance Nordio but it seems that Taste of Venice is the only cookbook she has written. What a shame!

Tomato Sauce

500g unskinned jam tomatoes (plum?) or 14 oz/400g tinned, peeled tomatoes
1 clove
1 small onion
1 small carot
1 stalk celery
3 T (tablespoon) parsley
2 T basil
20 g butter
1 t (teaspoon) olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper

In a copper or earthenware pot melt the butter and oil and add the celery, carrot, onion and parsley finely chopped together. cover the pot and cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the tomatoes, cut into large pieces, the basil and the garlic and recover the pot and allow to cook over a low hear for 15 minutes. Add the salt, sugar and pepper and blend or sieve the sauce.

Return to a low heat and gently simmer for another 25 minutes until the water from the tomatoes has been consumed and the sauce has thickened. Do not overcook as it will tend to become acid in taste.

This sauce may be bottled and sealed like jam to be used when needed.