This is my go to pizza sauce. It's great for dipping cheese sticks, too!

Makes about 2.5-3 cups of sauce. I use canned diced tomatoes because I can buy them in bulk for cheap and use the blender to smooth them out. If you're not interested in using a blender, use one 28 oz can crushed tomatoes. This recipe freezes very well. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 TBSP onion, rough chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (or 1 tsp fresh)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil (or 1 tsp fresh)
• 1 TBSP dried parsley (or 2 TBSP fresh)
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I use 1/2 tsp)
• SNP to taste after reducing sauce

Blend ingredients together until sauce is smooth. Transfer to sauce pan and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer sauce until it is reduced to your desired thickness. 

If you're short on time, you can add 2 TBSP tomato paste to thicken the sauce more quickly, I usually simmer the sauce about 45 minutes to an hour. 

I use this sauce on everything from tofu to chicken to ribs. It comes together quickly and keeps very well in the fridge or the freezer. 

Korean BBQ sauce: 
Makes about 2 cups of sauce, enough for a rack of ribs and tofu or a large batch of wings. 
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Ingredients

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup soy sauce (tamari or coconut aminos for gluten free)
• 2 TBSP onion powder
• 2 TBSP garlic powder
• 2 TBSP sesame oil

Whisk ingredients together well. 

Use as a marinade or a dipping sauce.

Pro tip- if you're using this to marinade things, reserve some of the sauce to baste what you're cooking part way through to add more chewy crust. I always reserve some extra for my tofu to use as sauce. 

I found this recipe from the New York Times and lightly adapted it. Here is the link, but it is not always available unless you have a subscription. I have found this dough to be light and fluffy, and think it would work well with just about any sauce. I've included the white wine sauce I made as pictured. The original called for a brown butter sage sauce. I will be making this again with spring onions in the batter and serve it with my vodka sauce. 

Serves 4
Gnocchi:
15 ounces whole milk ricotta
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups freshly grated parmesan (plus more for serving)
Salt and white pepper to taste
3/4 to 1 cup of flour

Sauce:
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large shallot, minced
2 TBSP unsalted butter
Dash crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
4 ounces white wine, I used chardonnay
5 ounce package of baby greens
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 TBSP of salt to the water.
   
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat eggs. Add ricotta, parmesan and salt and pepper. Mix well.
   
3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of flour over mixture and stir to mix. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour over mixture then stir to combine. The dough should be very sticky. Place a rounded spoonful of the dough into the boiling water to see if it will hold its shape. If not, add remaining flour, mix and try again. Once the mix holds its shape you'll transfer it to a large ziplock bag.
   
4. Prepare your sauce (see below for the sauce I used) and keep warm over low heat while you cook the gnocchi.
   
5. Cut the corner off one side of the bag diagonally, so you have about a 3/4" opening, and pipe the mix over the boiling water using scissors to snip the dough into 3/4" lengths. Don't overwhelm the pot with the gnocchi, you'll work in batches of about 8-10 at a time. Allow the gnocchi to fully cook, they're done after they float for about 10 seconds.
   
6. Use a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to remove the gnocchi and place into the pan with your sauce.

Sauce:

• Add shallots, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes and butter to a large skillet and cook over medium heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. When the onions are translucent, add white wine to the pan and allow to reduce fully, until the sauce is viscous. Add the greens to the pan and cook over low heat until they are wilted. Reduce heat to low and keep warm while you cook the gnocchi. Toss the gnocchi to coat them.

Serve with grated parmesan. 

Vodka sauce is one of my favorite go to dishes. It's flexible, you set it on fire, and it goes over pasta so what's not to love? The base sauce recipe is one I often make in bulk and keep in the freezer as you can add so many things to it to alter it for different recipes. 

One of my go to classic meals is spicy chicken parmesan. Feel free to make this as spicy (or not) as you want. The chicken is baked instead of fried. 

This recipe as written will make extra sauce- I like to freeze the leftovers. This will feed 4 hungry adults or 6 not so hungry adults. 

Sauce: 

• Oil for the pan
• ​2 shallots, minced
• 1 red onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c red wine (I generally use cabernet)
• 3  28oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 2-4 habanero peppers, sliced in half (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken: 

• 4 chicken breasts, whole or cut into cutlets or pounded out thinly
• about 2 cups flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup Panko
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon Tuscan or Italian seasoning
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese 

Additional: 

• Linguini noodles- 1 pound
• Basil and parmesan for serving, optional
• Garlic bread

Making the sauce: 

1. In a large pot, add oil to pan and heat over medium heat
2. When oil is hot, add onion and shallots and cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic and stir to ensure even cooking. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. 
3. When the garlic is fragrant, add the wine and stir to evenly distribute. Reduce the heat to medium low.  Allow wine to reduce to a syrup like consistency, stirring to prevent onions and garlic from burning. 
4. Add in remaining ingredients. Note about the habaneros- My husband likes particularly spicy things. I usually use 2-4 per batch of sauce and pull them out when the sauce is spicy enough for him. Please omit if you are not interested in a spicy sauce, the flavor is really good even without the heat! If you use them, taste the sauce every 10-15 minutes until the heat intensity is to your liking.
5. Bring pot to a boil then reduce to a simmer and allow sauce to meld for at least thirty minutes and up to two hours, depending on how thick you would like the sauce
6. Taste and adjust salt and pepper

For the chicken: 

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with a non stick covering (non stick foil, a silicon mat, or parchment paper) OR you can cook the chicken on a rack over a baking sheet for a crispier all over texture. Spray the rack before adding the chicken to ensure it doesn't stick. 
2. If you would like to have thinner chicken, feel free to cut the chicken breasts into cutlets or pound them out. 
3. Put the beaten egg in a bowl. Set up flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Mix together breading ingredients (Panko through crushed red pepper flakes) and place the mix on a plate. Run the chicken through the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, then the breading mixture. Press firmly to ensure the mix sticks to the chicken. Place the chicken on your prepared baking sheet.
4. Get pasta started- bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook pasta according to package instructions
5. Bake for 30 minutes until breading has browned. Add mozzarella to cover the top of the chicken and return to the oven for five minutes until cheese is fully melted, then remove and prepare for plating. 
6. Plate the linguini noodles, top with a generous serving of sauce. Place chicken on top and cover with extra sauce if desired. 
7. Serve with garlic bread, parmesan and freshly cut basil if desired.