Anyone have a good, easy spaghetti sauce recipe?

[MAJPLO]

Assmuning you want a meat sauce...

1 pound ground beef

3 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 to 2 Tbsp dried basil
1 to 2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 to 2 tsp garlic powder or 1 to 2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Brown ground beef, drain. Add canned sauce/tomatoes and seasonings. simmer for about 1 hour. Makes enough sauce for 1 pound of pasta.

If you don't want the tomato "chunks" you can use 4 cans tomato sauce. If you don't have a full hour to simmer, you can cut it shorter and thicken it with tomato paste. For the seasonings, start with the lower amount listed and add more to taste if you feel it needs it (I like the higher amounts myself).

This sounds similar to one I make. I do use onion and garlic loves but if I had pickier eaters I would go with onion powder and garlic powder instead. As pp said, if you don't like the chucks of diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes have a bit more texture than sauce but not too big.

Yum. Want some tonight!

ETA: I usually start the garlic (and onions) then do the tomatoes and seasonings. After that starts simmering and goes for about ten minutes thats when I start my big pot of pasta water. By the time that gets going and the pasta is cooked the sauce has had plenty of time to simmer and taste. Yummy.

 

[robinb]

Half Sicilian here....and we can our own tomatoes....as in we put up around 150 quarts a year. In years we can't get tomatoes, I use Tuttoroso Crushed canned tomatoes (green label). I've tried using other brands, but they usually have skins, and I can't stand skins in my sauce. Also, this brand does not add any preservatives or sugar (I've never understood sugar in tomato sauce ). This is what I do:

1-2 cans Tuttoroso Crushed tomatoes
fresh basil (I like a lot of basil....I keep it frozen in my freezer all year long)
maybe some garlic

That's it. Plain and simple. Cook it down....it doesn't take long because the tomatoes have already been processed. Adjust the seasonings to your taste (i.e. more garlic, more salt, oregano). I generally don't add salt until after it cooks because there's usually salt already in there to preserve the tomatoes.

If I want gravy (yes, from the Philly area!!!), I sear my meat (sausage, meatballs, chicken, pork, beef, and/or brasciole), put it in a large pot, cover it with as much tomatoes that it takes, season with basil, oregano, and garlic, and let simmer for 4-6 hours or so. The taste can't be beat! The sauce is smooth has the taste of gravy, and it's not chunky like a Bolognese.

Can you tell me how you freeze your basil? I currently freeze pureed tomatoes and pesto (separately ) but some fresh frozen basil would be great too.

 

[JanaDee]

Can you tell me how you freeze your basil? I currently freeze pureed tomatoes and pesto (separately ) but some fresh frozen basil would be great too.

Freeze the leaves in a bit of water in an ice cube tray, then you can pop one out as needed.

 

[robinb]

Freeze the leaves in a bit of water in an ice cube tray, then you can pop one out as needed.

I know this is a dumb question, but do you freeze them whole or chopped?

 

[JanaDee]

I know this is a dumb question, but do you freeze them whole or chopped?

I've only seen them frozen whole, because chopping (not tearing) causes them to turn black.

 

[mcorbo]

Half Sicilian here....and we can our own tomatoes....as in we put up around 150 quarts a year. In years we can't get tomatoes, I use Tuttoroso Crushed canned tomatoes (green label). I've tried using other brands, but they usually have skins, and I can't stand skins in my sauce. Also, this brand does not add any preservatives or sugar (I've never understood sugar in tomato sauce ). This is what I do:

1-2 cans Tuttoroso Crushed tomatoes
fresh basil (I like a lot of basil....I keep it frozen in my freezer all year long)
maybe some garlic

That's it. Plain and simple. Cook it down....it doesn't take long because the tomatoes have already been processed. Adjust the seasonings to your taste (i.e. more garlic, more salt, oregano). I generally don't add salt until after it cooks because there's usually salt already in there to preserve the tomatoes.

If I want gravy (yes, from the Philly area!!!), I sear my meat (sausage, meatballs, chicken, pork, beef, and/or brasciole), put it in a large pot, cover it with as much tomatoes that it takes, season with basil, oregano, and garlic, and let simmer for 4-6 hours or so. The taste can't be beat! The sauce is smooth has the taste of gravy, and it's not chunky like a Bolognese.

I have to agree on the Tuttorusso. We also use Red Pack, they are made by the same company.

 

[pklein09]

Can you tell me how you freeze your basil? I currently freeze pureed tomatoes and pesto (separately ) but some fresh frozen basil would be great too.

I wash the leaves/stems and let them dry. I put them in a Ziploc bag and freeze them. When they're frozen, I squish the bag. This breaks the leaves into small pieces and dislodges the stems (pretty efficiently, too!)

I freeze thyme, rosemary, and parsley the same way, but they don't crumble as easily as basil.

 

[RoxyJ]

My fave:
http://iowagirleats.com/2012/08/22/crock-pot-spaghetti-sauce-with-omg-garlic-bread/

I'm making it now