We love talking to all of our customers through our blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Basil T’s is always looking for new ideas and feedback to make your experience at our Red Bank Italian restaurant a better one. Well, you spoke and we listened.

Our customers asked us about Basil T’s famous pasta fagioli, so we decided to film Victor Rallo making his famous Italian dish. An addition to Basil T’s video recipe series, Victor Rallo shows Red Bank Italian food lovers how he puts together his pasta fagioli in under six minutes.

Using only the freshest ingredients and a top notch extra virgin olive oil, Victor explains which ingredients give you the best flavor and insists to cook like an Italian by not being shy with your basil or sea salt. Victor is committed to using homemade ingredients for his pasta fagioli, but offers alternatives to Red Bank Italian food fans as well.

Once you watch Victor Rallo prepare his pasta fagioli, how about try it yourself? We would love to see pictures or your own version of homemade pasta fagioli. Send pictures to BasilTmail@gmail.com, or post them to our Facebook page.

Red Bank Italian Food Fans Are Buzzing About Basil T’s

Get a glimpse of Victor Rallo doing what he does best and watch him make his famous pasta fagioli through Basil T’s video recipe series. Come by Basil T’s restaurant in Red Bank to taste it for yourself and see why our customers are raving about all of Victor’s Italian dishes.

The Original Basil T’s Brewery and Italian Grill is proud to bring you our recipe for Pomodoro Fresco, or homemade tomato sauce.  This recipe is exactly how we make our own tomato sauce at Basil T’s.  Take a look at the video recipe for a great look at how our executive chef makes it, then check out the written recipe to make your own!

More video recipes coming soon…

Ingredients

Before you start, you’ll also need…

• Pot of boiling water for tomatoes
• Bowl of ice water
• A large appetite and preference for Fresh cooked Italian food

Take the tomatoes and remove the core using a knife.  Slice an X on the bottom of the tomato so that the skin will peel off after parboiling or blanching. Place tomatoes into a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute. Remove the tomatoes with a scooper and place them directly into the ice water. After they cool for a minute or so, take them out and peel off the skin. With the X you cut in the tomato skin before, the skin should peel off easily in four sections. After peeling the tomatoes, slice the tomatoes however you prefer (we recommend dicing them into half-inch squares) and place them in a bowl. Next, skin and dice the whole onion (we recommend a large Spanish onion). Next crush 3-4 cloves of garlic using the side of a large knife. Now you’re ready to cook.

Coat the bottom of a large pot in olive oil and add the diced onions and crushed garlic to the pot. Cook at a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the onions are translucent and golden brown. At this point, your neighbors will smell you cooking fresh tomato sauce, so you may want to lock your doors accordingly. Add the chopped/diced tomatoes to the pot, as well at some pepper, (fresh ground works best) salt, and some chopped basil leaves. Stir pot a bit and let it cook for 5-8 minutes at a high heat, stirring occasionally.

You now have a fresh, homemade tomato based sauce (always better and fresher than a canned sauce) which can be used for a multitude of dishes in Italian cooking such as pasta, tomato based soups, chicken cacciatore, and many more. Buon Appetito!