Spaghetti is an easy dinner but sometimes we want more than just those store bought jars. Try this spaghetti sauce recipe and impress even the biggest Italian eater. This is from an old Italian dude that i’m sure learned it from his dad and so on. You can easily use a crock pot to cook it all day and night.
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced (can also use roasted garlic cloves)
- 2 8 oz cans tomato paste
- 1 28 oz can tomato puree
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1.5 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoons kosher salt
- ¼ cup brown sugar (optional)
Directions
To Roasted Garlic:
Preheat oven to 400 °. Nip off a slice off the top of the bulb of garlic to reveal most of the garlic cloves. Place on square of foil on baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over the tops of the garlic cloves. Sprinkle with a little kosher salt.
Roast for 20-25 minutes until golden and soft. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then using a paper towel, hold the garlic bulb upside down over the foil and squeeze the bulb from the bottom up, pushing the garlic cloves out. Most will pop out, some might need to be encouraged or pulled out. Remove any of the papery garlic skin and set aside.
MAKING THE SAUCE
Drizzle oil into large, heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium heat. If not using roasted garlic, toss in minced garlic and stir until golden, careful not to burn. Scoop the tomato paste into the hot oil (garlic) and stir around until you see the color darken slightly, don’t allow to burn.
Pour in the pureed and crushed tomatoes, next, pour one or two whole tomatoes at a time in your hand, squeezing and crushing them into the sauce. Pick one of the empty 28 oz cans and fill ½ way with water, swirling around to remove leftover tomato juice, then pour into the next can and the next until you’ve cleaned out all of the cans. Don’t throw out. Pour tomato “water” with collected juices into the sauce, stir to combine.
Toss in basil, oregano and sea salt and a few shakes of red pepper flakes (more for more heat, less if none desired). Toss in roasted garlic, if made. Place in brown sugar and stir to combine.
Simmer spaghetti sauce, covered on lowest possible setting for 4-6 hours (or longer), stirring occasionally. Add water as needed if getting too thick, simmer longer if too thin. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more of each if needed.
Cool spaghetti sauce on stovetop overnight, covered. Before serving, bring up to simmer once again for an hour or so. Optional: Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth.
May be frozen (cool completely before freezing), mock “canned” by placing hot sauce into clean canning jars, sealing tightly with canning tops, allowing to cool on counter, once cooled, store in refrigerator, note that these are not shelf stable.
Like Italian food? Check out this bruschetta recipe.
