A classic spice rack staple for many american kitchens, “italian seasoning” is often left to age into a gray ghost of its original self, relegated to the occasional dashdash here and there. I partly feel the blends themselves are to blame, they often seem to contain poor quality herbs that lend an almost medicinal taste, or sometimes have so much dried basil they have unpleasant licorice notes. Maybe they came with the spice rack you bought and you’ve just never seen a use, but have yet to repurpose the jar…whatever the reason, i guarantee you will find use for this blend on the regular.
This has all the classic flavors we often associate with italian cuisine….warm oregano, earthy thyme, sweet basil….and a lot of blends pretty much stop there. Not for us. No. Sage is added to lend a woodsy tone, rosemary for a wonderful resinous quality, bay leaves for their ability to bring harmony with their tea-like notes, crushed red pepper for a little bit of oomph, and just a touch of garlic and onion to round things out.
I like to grind up the bay, rosemary, and red pepper, then mixing them with the garlic and onion before the other herbs, helping to spread their stronger flavors throughout the blend (plus, no one wants a spiky hard piece of rosemary in their food, or a tough little bay leaf chip.)
Use this whenever you’re needing to add some something something to some bland jarred pasta sauce, mix it with olive oil for a wonderful bread dipping oil, sprinkle it on your pizzas, toss with vegges while sauteeing, use it for some nom roasted italian potatoes w/ parsley pesto……the possibilities are endless. If you’re in a rush and need some fast pizza sauce, simply add this and some salt to some canned tomato sauce (or watered down paste, or crushed tomatoes…whatever) and boom! pizza sauce that’s probably way better than anything you might buy. You’re welcome.