Spaghetti sauce

[veg-o-matic]

The thread on fabric softeners got me to thinking about spaghetti sauce. And before you think I've totally lost my marbles, there was a significant sub-thread about Redpack tomatoes contained therein.
So there.
Anyway, I've tried all the commercial kinds and the only kind I can stand is Hunt's in the can. I'd really like to make my own but I need a really good recipe. Not one from a cookbook--I'm looking for a recipe from someone who knows what he's doing.
Someone--no names mentioned <FONT SIZE =1>Jeff</FONT> promised to send me his recipe but he never did.
So how about it fellas? Anyone care to share?
Have Crock Pot. Will simmer.

veg

 

[maytagbear]

It's too simple to be called a recipe--

I like to take the mild or hot (depending on mood) Italian style sausage from my supermarket's meat case, and remove it from the link casings, and brown it, and then add it to a home made tomato sauce.

Sometimes I'll use the sausage instead of ground beef, and sometimes in addition to ground beef.

Some Italian-Americans I know insist on adding pork neck bones, and call anything without, "Irish sauce."

I never add sugar to mine. If I have to sweeten it, I throw a raw carrot into the processor, and either shred it finely, or chop it very finely.

I think fresh basil makes a real difference, and if not available, or not willing to go get some, I like to chop fresh parsley (which I almost always have) with dried basil...or almost any dried herb. Makes it taste fresher.

It's a good idea, if you can have it in the house, to add some dry red wine...a half cup or so for the sauce, and the rest of the bottle for the table. Nothing spectacular, but a nice, moderately priced valpolicella would do very well.

When I make a casual sauce, I just "grab and throw."

Time to serve, or almost, I like to put a cup or so of it into the processor with the Steel Knife, and whirl away. I like the texture, when I add it back into the pot.

I do admit to putting lots of garlic and onions into mine, however. And crimini mushrooms!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[hoover1060]

wow...

you could have just reminded me you know!

Here is my recipiewhich is NOT written down anyplace)

2 packages McSchilling spaghetti sauce mix
2 small cans(6 oz?)Contadina tomato paste
2 jars green giant sliced mushrooms
2 pounds ground beef
2 onions(tennis ball size)
2 sweet green peppers
2 cloves garlic
4 1/2 cups water
3 cans(14 oz)diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parsley flakes

Brown the meat on the stove in some olive oil. Pour into colander to drain off excess grease.

Peel and quarter the onion, seed and cut up the green peppers into 1-2 inch pieces. drain the mushrooms and peel the garlic.
Chop the all above fine in batches using a blender. Fill the blender container about 1/2 full of stuff, and use 4 1/2 cups water in sections to help the blender chop. You'll probably get everything chopped in three batches.(They call this the water-chop method in blender cookbooks...usually 2-3 pulses on/off will chop the stuff pretty fine)

Pour chopped veggies and liquid into a large(6 quart) crock pot.

Drain the diced tomatoes and add to the crock.
add the parsley
Add the tomato paste and McSchilling packages to the crock. Mix well.
now add the drained ground beef and mix all up.
Cook on HIGH power stirring occasionally for at least 8 hours.
Your house will smell amazing!
I freeze this in Gladware containers, it keeps well and then I have it on hand for pasta or lasagna.

Ok Veg, get cooking!

 

[washerboy]

the sauce

I'm sure someone will give you an over the top receipie for sauce..personally there's three things I just cant make chili, spaghetti sauce and thanksgiving dressing;however I have a close friend that makes out of this world sauce. He uses the traditional spices but rather than tomato sauce or paste he usese tomato juice. So he throws everything in the crock pot and lets is cook for at least 48 hours...the water in the tomato juice cooks out and makes a wonderful sauce. Looking forward to see what receipies come up./m

 

[petek]

So are you looking for a real recipe or a cheater recipe that uses canned sauces/tomatos/pastes or real tomato's?

Where people usually ruin their spaghetti sauces is by adding too much. Usually too much dried oregano, too much salt or too much of one spice or the other. Canned tomato paste is another culprit, don't care what brand, they all add a bitter taste. Tomato paste is best used for last minute thickening and only a teaspoons worth. Any sauce made with a whole can or two of tomato paste uggghhhh.

Also.. avoid dried onion flakes, dried garlic, garlic powder, onion powder etc.. Use the real things.

 

[rp2813]

My mom's recipe is from scratch as performed by my Calabrian-born grandmother. It's very basic. Add what you want to it meatwise. In my extended family that could be anything--but never ground beef. Stew meat, lamb, chicken, sausage, and my Sicilian aunt even used pig's feet. No, not the gross pickled kind, but parboiled and then thrown in the sauce. One of my personal favorites--who knew? Bob, I can email you my scribbled down interpretation of my mom's recipe if you like. Also, a family friend who came to the states from Italy in the 30's always threw a dash of baking soda into the sauce to neutralize the acid from the tomatoes. You can see it working as the sauce bubbles up after the soda hits it.

I'm so lazy anymore, or in such a hurry, that I doctor up canned sauce a lot. The best canned one I've found is Trader Joe's marinara, it has a green label and the can is the same size as a large can of tomatoes. If you read the ingredients you'll see it's very basic stuff that you can build on. No sugar. That's my pet peeve--sugar in spaghetti sauce. Carrots would be next on the list since I like them raw but find cooked ones distasteful, and they just aren't a part of any of my family members' sauce recipes. I always add red wine to any canned sauce I'm working with.

Ralph

 

[maytagbear]

Hi, Ralph

Why do I have a feeling that this might wind up to be an interesting, interesting thread?

Baking soda is a bad idea near any vegetable, for it is known to destroy vitamin C.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[58limited]

Veg

I posted my mom's Spaghetti and Meatball recipe on Chachp's Bon Appetite! web site, see link below. This is a really bullet proof recipe - you can mismeasure and still come out great. I usually add (alot) more garlic than listed. The sauce does not take long, the meatballs take longer since I brown them in a skillet, but well worth the time. Skillet browning adds great flavor, but if you are in a hurry, you can brown them in an oven - not as good.

http://recipes.chachp.com/contributorrecipedetails.asp?Key=21

 

[rp2813]

Hey LMB,

You are right about the thread and also about the parsley. One of my late well-off aunts used only the finest ingredients and her meatballs were the best in the family. You could taste the fresh parsely in them and I agree that fresh parsely really adds a nice touch to any sauce. I have been meaning to ask my cousin for the meatball recipe. My mom was always cutting corners and stretching her dollar and her meatballs weren't as good.

As for the baking soda, I'm usually not eating spaghetti and sauce with vitamin C in mind so it makes no difference to me. It's very satisfying in a suds cake sort of way to see and hear the bubbling action of the baking soda at work.

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oooh, Ralph's Bon Appetit site! Completely forgot about that--my apologies.

Waiting for Shane to chime in, tap tap...

<FONT SIZE =1> Oh, Jeffy, I know I could have reminded you, but I forgot and besides, it's more fun this way!</FONT>

veg

 

[maytagbear]

I come by it honestly....

My mother taught Home Economics for years, and had taken a lot of Human Nutrition coursework.....

Even so, most of the time, she was a good-to-great cook.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[48bencix]

I like Hunt's

I like Hunts, they have several varieties, and sometimes I doctor a little, such as throw in some Italian herbs. Of course I like the price, usually less than $1.00. But lately I have been making meatballs too. Just use 1 1/2 lb. of ground beef, 1/2 cup of Contadina bread crumbs (Italian is great), one egg and some herbs like more Italian herbs, salt, pepper, and some garlic powder.

Like David said, make the meat balls large about 1 1/2" dia. and brown them well. Then add your sauce and cook, for at least 45 minutes. Actually this is a pretty quick dinner, in actual preparation time. And I still like it with spaghetti and parmasan cheese, sometimes other pasta, but somehow spaghetti has too many good memories to pass up.

Martin

 

[rp2813]

Martin, I agree that if you've got the sauce ready, a pasta dinner is pretty quick to put together. On those very rare occasions when my partner doesn't feel like cooking and throws it to me, it becomes pasta night, as I've always got a stash of sauce in the freezer.

 

[danemodsandy]

Easy Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

Here's the solution- easy as can be, and people think you slaved over it, which you didn't:

- 1 can Hunt's spaghetti sauce, your choice of variety
- 1 pound MILD sausage
- 1 large can mushroom stems and pieces
- (Optional) brown sugar to taste

Begin by browning the sausage in a skillet, breaking it up as it cooks. It should be really good and brown when you're through. Drain the sausage very thoroughly by dumping it into a wire-mesh colander set over a bowl. As it drains, press on it with the back of a big spoon, so as to press out the most grease possible.

Now combine the Hunt's sauce, the browned, drained sausage, and the mushrooms. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer about 30 minutes. If the sauce is too tart for your liking, add a LITTLE brown sugar- begin with 2 teaspoons. You should not be able to taste the sauce and say, "hmm- brown sugar" or "hmm- sweet". The brown sugar should just knock the tart edge off the sauce.

That's it! If this is made properly, it is not greasy at all. It's very thick and rich-tasting.

 

[~sudsshane]

Shane's Italian sauce recipe

Veg~

2 cans of RedPack crushed tomatoes(28 oz)
1 can of RedPack Plum tomatoes(28 oz)
1 small can of RedPack Tomato paste
2 small cans of RedPack Tomato sauce
2-3 cloves of fresh minced garlic
1 large vidalia onion
2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Splash of red wine
2 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley
2 teaspoons of fresh basil
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 bay leaf (optional)
1-2 teaspoons of organic sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of fresh romano cheese

You can use this same recipe for making meat sauce.

Heat Olive oil in a sauce pan or pot over medium heat with fresh garlic and one large onion,chopped. Saute until the onion and garlic has a transparency to it. You can then add a pound of chop meat to the pan with a can of tomato paste and saute until chop meat is browned. Drain the excess fat from pan. Add your crushed tomatoes, and plum tomatoes.(you can lightly puree or chop plum tomatoes), add tomato sauce.
Add herbs,red wine,sugar,and romano cheese.

Add salt and pepper to taste.
Let simmer about 1 hour on your stove partially covered or you can cook in your Crock pot on high for about 4 hours
Stir occasionally

"In Bocca al lupo"
(Good Luck)
~Suds Shane

 

[~sudsshane]

veg~

Also, not to contradict the fine people on this site, but I would not recommend Hunts canned tomatoes. I find them as well as Contadina and Progresso to be quite acidic as well as salty.
Redpack is really the best. Not sure if you can find them in your area. They are widely available in the Northeast.
Another good brand if you can't find Redpack is Muir Glen

 

[~sudsshane]

58 limited~

Hey David

Your recipe for meatballs sounds amazing! I made note of it and will give it a try

Thanks
~Shane

 

[58limited]

Shane

Thanks for the comment on the meatballs, they are my favorite part of the recipe. They make a great cold meatball sandwich, and you can make a bunch and freeze them too. I plan to try your sauce recipe, looks good. I wish I had Redpack available here - I'd like to try them based on the above comments. Maybe I can mail order - I'll search online.

I am probably going to switch to crushed tomatoes in my sauce recipe instead of diced. I've been using them in other recipes and I really like them better.

David

 

[hoover1060]

Shane!

your recipie looks awesome, I am gonna try it!