The Bearded Lady’s Tomato Sauce

Directions

1. Prep your ingredients: Wash grape tomatoes. Cut onion in half (top to root, not along equator) and peel. Chop one half to a medium dice and leave the other half intact. Coarsely mince garlic cloves. Coarsely mince sun dried tomatoes. Coarsely mince roasted peppers. Cut butter into 1 tbsp pats. Crush canned tomatoes by hand or using fork.
2. Set burner to medium heat and add 1 tbsp reserved sun dried tomato olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to Dutch oven. Once the butter has melted, add diced 1/2 onion and just enough salt to sweat them. Cook about 5-7 minutes until the onion has softened, but is still mostly opaque.
3. Add grape tomatoes and a *splash (1-2 tbsp) of Vermouth and cover. Cook 5 minutes until tomatoes have softened and wrinkled a bit.
4. Uncover and add red pepper and sun dried tomatoes. Cover and cook another 2-3 minutes.
5. Uncover and clear a spot on the bottom of the Dutch oven free from the other ingredients. Add 1 tsp olive oil and add minced garlic. Cook 30 seconds-1 minute until fragrant and then mix in to the rest of the ingredients.
6. Add 1/2 cup of vermouth to pan and scrape up browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook until evaporated, about 1 minute or so.
7. Add canned tomatoes, the other 1/2 of the onion, and remaining 4 tbsp butter to Dutch oven. Lower burner so that tomatoes bubble at a low simmer. Continue to lightly crush the tomatoes, leaving some chunks for texture.
8. After 20 minutes, add Parmigiano Reggiano rind to the pot and continue to simmer for 20-25 minutes until thickened to your desired level.
9. Remove the Parmigiano Reggiano rind and 1/2 onion. Check for salt and pepper and add to taste- given the amount of salt in the sun dried tomatoes and roasted pepper, you may not need to add any.
10. Serve over 1 lb. cooked pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or on top of toasted bread slices with Parmesan shavings for an appetizer.