The best pasta sauce in the world
 

Well I think so anyway. It's pretty easy to make, too.

Ingredients:

2 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatos
the-dip-of-your-palm full of crushed red pepper flakes
4 cloves of garlic, minced (more if you like a lot of garlic)
1/2 large white onion, diced (more if you like onion flavor a lot)
2 bay leaves
1 small can of tomato paste
2 lbs ground beef, pork, or turkey (I use beef mainly but I've used turkey and it's good too)
a little olive oil
salt & pepper

Brown the meat until it isn't pink anymore and drain it. Set it aside.

Heat 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot to medium heat. Throw in the pepper flakes and saute them for 15-20 seconds. Throw in the onion and saute until golden brown (15 minutes or so.) Put in the garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Put in the whole can of tomato paste and stir constantly for 1 minute. Then add all the crushed tomatos, bay leaves, browned meat, and salt & pepper to taste. Let that simmer at least an hour, preferably 2-3 hours uncovered. Watch out for splatters as tomato sauce will get on your white shirt and piss you off.

After simmering for a while, use this sauce on lasagna, spaghetti, ziti, pizza, or anything that can stand up to a heavy red sauce. Freeze leftovers and use it whenever you want it later.

Not a bad sauce recipe at all. Don't usually put bay leaves in mine -- I'll have to give that a try. You get my Italian stamp of approval.

BTW -- I agree with the time period. The best thing about sauce is you really can't over cook it. I sometimes let it slowly, slowly simmer for 4-5 hours. Love a thick sauce and can't help but dip some bread in when its cooking. ;)

Sounds like a great sauce. Thanks.

mmmmmm pasta

agreed with the long simmer time.. the longer the sweeter... shorter simmer equals tarter sauce

Sounds like a good one, though I might substitute spicy italian sausage for the ground beef and fresh basil makes ANYTHING better :)

I make a sauce very similar to this. If you want to go meatless, like for pizza or calzone sauce with a somooth texture, just add one cup of beef bullion to get that flavor.

finally a good gravy recipe that doesn't sound labor intensive at all, will try soon thanks boss!

Old threads bubble to the top, like rosemary in marinara on the stove

If you want to cut the acidic flavor of the tomatos a bit of brown sugar does wonders.

shot a balsamic vinegar does the same thing without adding the sweetness of sugar :)

That's a long runing arguement I've had and I know little old Italian Grandmas usually add sugar to their sauces, but I can't stand jarred sauces because I can taste the sugar, I don't like sugar in pisghetti sauce :)

The only suggestion I'd add to the above recipe - is don't limit the meat to just one - ground beef, pork, and lamb(usually sold as a meatloaf mix ) makes for an outstanding and flavorful sauce... or groundbeef and somehot italian casing free sausage...

My mom does half and half ground beef and sweet Italian sausage--or just Italian sausage when she's feeling racy.

It's delicious.

Personally I like to throw a little bit of fennel seed into my pasta sauces--even when I'm not using sausage it adds that hint of anise and spice.

Same recipe here. I do add a pinch of fresh oregano from the garden.

I make large batches of this sauce (generally without the meat - is VERY cheap if you exclude the meat and am still poor student). I divide it into portions and freeze. Its like money in the bank!

I'm not big on ground meat sauces I like cut up italian sausage and for a treat throw in some home made meatballs. I like to cook it in the crockpot all day, let the meat and sauce flavors intermingle. Yes to the bay leaf, fennel seed and fresh oregano, no to the sugar. A little angle hair pasta and a liberal amount of freshly ground parmesan cheese(my wife gets the real deal, she has co-workers that fly back and forth to Italy all the time.) Yum!

I also add oregano but I prefer my meats separate, so only beef for me in this one. I also use bay leaves and it does taste better with them. Basil also is a good idea. I usually buy the canned tomatoes already flavoured with basil - yummy.

That works in chili, too. A lot of chili recipes include sugar -- not very much, one or one half a teaspoon. But it's enough to muffle the acid and let the other flavors come through.

I use one 14.5oz Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes (can be found in most grocerie stores, it might be in organic, canned vegies, or with the pasta sauce), one 15oz tomato sauce, a splash of sweet balsamic vinegar, onion powder, oregano leaves, basil leaves, parsley flakes, all to taste, crush between palms before adding, and finally fresh garlic. I add a bit of extra virgin olive oil (or more recently truffle oil) to the pasta before pouring the sauce on. I've cooked the sauce from 15 minutes to a couple hours. I don't add meat to this sauce since it has plenty of flavor and I've been trying to lose weight =)

I do pretty much the same one, but I drop the tomato paste, add a splash of red wine, some oregano and basil, and replace the meat with smoked sausage (the kind that comes in a horseshoe shape) cut into 1/4" pieces.

And I use one can of Di Fratelli crushed tomatos instead of the regular ones.

Great stuff!

Its been quite a while since I made any sauce so I have yet to try this but a guy that worked for me for a few months told me that instead of adding sugar to cut the acid you can cook a whole peeled potato in the sauce and it will absorb the acid. I'll probably give it a try next time I make sauce but even if it works as advertised I dont know if I'll switch to it. I like a sweet sauce sometimes.

Ohhh, this all sounds so good. I've never made my own red sauce before and I can't wait to try. I love cooking and my husband loves spaghetti. :) Plus I love anything that can be made in large quantities and frozen. Makes for easier dinners on busy nights.

fwiw, I've been adding a small touch of molasses instead of sugar lately. It may sound strange, but I like the touch of smokey sweetness that it adds.

And by "a small touch", I really do mean that. At most 1/2 tsp in a meal's worth of sauce.

Mal, I'll have to try the balsamic vinegar idea as well.

Wow - great thread everyone! I actually cut and pasted the thoughts and printed and into my recipe book they go! Thanks - gonna try it this week.

I usually add a lil cream, and 2 eggs stirred vigurously into it....makes a nice blush and thick sauce.

I made this last weekend - added a little red wine and pumped up the garlic and onion a bit - it was excellent. Thanks for the recipe!

when my daughter was born she was so pissed at the world...
 

the nurse called her "Pepper" which she detests, yet accepts it from me...

as she grew up she loved Dr. Pepper...

one night, trying to get away from the usual gorp de jour, i made her a pasta sauce that 25 years later still lives in my kid's heart...

yer gonna love this...

2 pounds ground beef - browned - drained
1 package (16 oz) spaghetti - cooked - drained
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (basil, oregano - boxed - whatever)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 can Dr. Pepper
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1-1/2 cups mozzarella
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

prehet oven to 350...

stir onions and seasonings into meat, browning in skillet - add Dr. Pepper, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce da pan and cook 5 mins or so - stirring often

cook pasta until al dente

drain and stir in 1-1/2 cups mozzarella

put it in a 3x9 casserole dish

45 - 50 minutes should do it :thumbsup:

Sounds good! Reminds me of a barbacue sauce I made a few months ago with a can of coke in it.

Here's a light (healthy) tomato sauce that goes great with raviolli or mussels. I've never tried it with pasta, so no guarantees there :D

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
14 ounce can chopped (or crushed) tomatoes
2/3 cup white wine
1 zucchini, diced finely
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp superfine sugar (powdered sugar works fine too)
1 3/4 ounces pitted black olives in brine, drained, and chopped
salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, for garnish

1) Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently sauté the onion, garlic, and bell pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just softened.

2) Add the sprig of rosemary and the bay leaves to the saucepan with the tomatoes and 1/3 cup of wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then bring to a boil, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

3) Stir in the zucchini, tomato paste, sugar, and olives. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4) Serve over raviolli, or mussels, with crusty bread. Garnish with parsley.

Serves four, with 185 calories & 6.5 grams of fat per serving. Did I mention its delicious? Enjoy. :D