Calling all Italian's or anyone that makes their own homemade sause

[DebMcDonald]

I know alot of people that make their own sauce and I always ask for a receipe, but everyone says, I don't have one...... Now I understand that completely because I have recipes that I can not pass along too, but now I'm desparate , so I figured I would reach out to be friends here and see if someone can help.

Somehow I got roped into the field hockey pasta night and unless someone comes to my rescue, these kids are eating ragu and frozen meatballs..... While I'm begging, I'll take a meatball receipe too....

Thanks!!!

sorry about the spelling mistake above. "sauce"

 

[justbishop]

My DH's family is Italian (like, 'make their own fresh pasta with 93 y/o Gma Carmella and MIL Anoinette' Italian), and I was suprised when I found that they all prefer a smooth tomato sauce to the commercial jarred chunky type ones.

When DH and I do pasta, we use a doctored up plain old Hunt's tomato sauce. Sautee some freshly chopped garlic in some EVOO until fragrant, add the sauce, and toss in some fresh chopped basil. Easy peasy.

DO NOT add sugar, or worse yet grape jelly (not sure if this is a southern US thing or not, but...yuck)!

ETA: just wanted to add that my Gma-in-law (the Italian one) uses canned crushed tomatoes for her sauce and just cooks the bejeezus out of it.

 

[Shleedogg]

I don't have a recipe either, it's more of a bit of this, a bit of that.

chop onions and garlic, as much as desired and sautee in bottom of big pan with olive oil. I puree them to make the sauce smooth for my picky husband.

add cans of pureed tomatoes (I've also used tomato paste, for paste you need to add 2 cans of water for every 1 can of paste)

Add a couple of bay leaves and dried basil & oregano and a couple handfuls of romano cheese.

Meatballs: the best recipe I've found is a WW recipe.

You could leave the spinach out if you think it'll scare the kids. They are so flavorful. This is going to be blasphemy, but they are better than my Sicilian grandmother's recipe that was handed down to me.

After you brown them on all sides, add them to your sauce. Let it simmer for at least 4 hrs.

ETA: You can also add Italian sausage to the sauce to simmer. I don't like it, but it does make the sauce more flavorful. When my dad makes sauce he always puts sausage in. He said my grandma used to put whatever meat she had on hand in it to add more flavor. Glad I didn't know that as a kid, lol.

Some people add sugar if they like a sweeter sauce, I don't. I actually add a few dashes of balsamic vinegar. Taste it as it cooks to see what it needs more of, cheese, basil, oregano. If you want to use fresh herbs, those are best added in the last 20 min of cooking or so (from what I've read).

 

[Shleedogg]

My DH's family is Italian (like, 'make their own fresh pasta with 93 y/o Gma Carmella and MIL Anoinette' Italian), and I was suprised when I found that they all prefer a smooth tomato sauce to the commercial jarred chunky type ones.

When DH and I do pasta, we use a doctored up plain old Hunt's tomato sauce. Sautee some freshly chopped garlic in some EVOO until fragrant, add the sauce, and toss in some fresh chopped basil. Easy peasy.

DO NOT add sugar, or worse yet grape jelly (not sure if this is a southern US thing or not, but...yuck)!

ETA: just wanted to add that my Gma-in-law (the Italian one) uses canned crushed tomatoes for her sauce and just cooks the bejeezus out of it.

EW! Grape jelly????? That's the weirdest think I've heard of.

 

[CherylA]

My DH's family is Italian (like, 'make their own fresh pasta with 93 y/o Gma Carmella and MIL Anoinette' Italian), and I was suprised when I found that they all prefer a smooth tomato sauce to the commercial jarred chunky type ones.

When DH and I do pasta, we use a doctored up plain old Hunt's tomato sauce. Sautee some freshly chopped garlic in some EVOO until fragrant, add the sauce, and toss in some fresh chopped basil. Easy peasy.

DO NOT add sugar, or worse yet grape jelly (not sure if this is a southern US thing or not, but...yuck)!

Yeah that thinner type tomato sauce many Italians call "gravy". I'm in the Northeast, we're Italian and in an Italian community. It's the type of sauce I prefer but sadly no, I don't have a recipe. I also doctor up jar sauce with some basil, mint and finely ground beef. I used to make my own (I have a cookbook of Northern Italian cooking that I followed)but for my family of 4 jar was just easier, if I buy it on sale it was just as low a cost and once I doctor it up I like it just as much as from scratch. Plus I was always burning the bottom of my sauce and that makes it taste terrible!

 

[tlbwriter]

Well, my secret family recipe is to brown some ground turkey, saute some onion and garlic, and dump in a jar of Prego.

 

[justbishop]

EW! Grape jelly????? That's the weirdest think I've heard of.

I know, right! Dh works with a guy who always cooks at his church's spaghetti dinner night, and they put a jumbo size jar of jelly in the sauce

 

[sunshine74]

The was one of the first things my mom taught me to cook, and is a total staple in my house. I don't follow a strict recipe, but I always make it the same, so I'll see if I can explain!!

sautee 1 med onion and a couple cloves of minced garlic
Brown 1 lb of ground beef w/ the onions & garlic - salt and pepper the beef mixture

in a crock pot put the beef/onions/garlic with:
2-3 cans diced tomatoes
1-2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
(you can vary the diced tomato vs. sauce ratio to your tastes, some like chunky some like smooth)

add spices (all approx measures):
1tsp oregano
1tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
couple more cloves of garlic - more if you like it garlicy

add the following, based on what you like or have on-hand:
sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh are fine)
diced bell pepper

let it simmer 2-3 hours in the crock pot on high, then taste and salt at the end. if you salt too early, it may end up to salty for your tastes.

Good luck, and if you try this let me know how it goes!

 

[mcorbo]

Not really a recipe and it may vary each time I make it depending on what meat is available (sometime bake meatballs and add them to the sauce) herbs are just approximations, i never measure.

1 Lg Onion Chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped

Saute in large pot with olive oil (maybe 5 minutes)

Add (crushing before adding to pot except for bay leaves)

Basil (2 teaspoons)
Oregano (2 tablespoons)
Bay leaves (3 or 4)

saute for a 2 more minutes

Add 6-8 cans of crushed Tuttorusso tomatoes (we have tried other varieties and like these best, green cans, not blue)

1 small can tomato paste

in large skillet brown the following
(I buy this packaged at our grocery store, they call it meat combo for gravy)
1 pork sausage
1 piece of pork (maybe 6 ounces)
1 piece of beef (maybe 6 ounces)

once browned, remove from pan and slice sausage in half and meats in 3's. Put back in pan and brown cut edges some more.

Transfer to pot.
deglaze skillet with 1/2 can of water (from the tomatoes) and add to pot.

Cook 3-4 hours on low heat.

 

[CherylA]

The was one of the first things my mom taught me to cook, and is a total staple in my house. I don't follow a strict recipe, but I always make it the same, so I'll see if I can explain!!

sautee 1 med onion and a couple cloves of minced garlic
Brown 1 lb of ground beef w/ the onions & garlic - salt and pepper the beef mixture

in a crock pot put the beef/onions/garlic with:
2-3 cans diced tomatoes
1-2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
(you can vary the diced tomato vs. sauce ratio to your tastes, some like chunky some like smooth)

add spices (all approx measures):
1tsp oregano
1tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
couple more cloves of garlic - more if you like it garlicy

add the following, based on what you like or have on-hand:
sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh are fine)
diced bell pepper

let it simmer 2-3 hours in the crock pot on high, then taste and salt at the end. if you salt too early, it may end up to salty for your tastes.

Good luck, and if you try this let me know how it goes!

Hmm I bet using the crockpot would keep me from burning the sauce. Maybe I'll try a homemade batch soon.

 

[java]

My arrabiatta sauce ( we like it spicy- just leave out the red pepper flakes and it's just regular tomato sauce)

This summer I have been using fresh chopped tomatoes- but during the off season I'll use san marzanos from the canned section.If you can get crushed great if not just hand crush them yourself.

So I heat about 1 TBP of good Extra Virgin Olive oil over medium flame. Grate in 3 cloves of garlic- watch carefully because nothing is grosser than burnt garlic. Just as it starts to get golden - dump in about 3 big cans of the crushed San Marzannos.
At this point I put in about 2 TBSP of red pepper flakes. (my kids like this too)

Let cook for about 45 minutes to meld the flavors- but I have used it in less time and it's still good. I add a bit of basil right after I turn off the heat.



My Polish Mom made her's this way and I loved it as a kid.
dump into big pot

2 Big cans of Tomato Puree
2 cans of tomato sauce
2 cans of Tomato paste
Fill 1/2 of the empty cans with water and add to tomatoes in pot
Sprinkle in oregano
I would add one can of Red Wine.

Cook down for at least an hour. She would then throw her meatballs in for the last additional hour to cook.

 

[luvmy3]

Not my recipe but definitely my favorite (This is not diet friendly!)

I can San Marzano tomatoes, 1 vidalia onion cut into quarters, and 1 stick of butter. Let simmer until the tomatoes have broken apart and the onions are tender to the point where they melt in your mouth.

Oh man, now I need to make this for tonight.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I have a bunch of Italian relatives who make delicious homemade sauce (or gravy).

But I just found the closest thing to homemade: Paul Sorvino Marinara Sauce. It's the closest thing to my Uncle Vince's homemade marinara that I've ever tasted. Delicious.

 

[dawson5]

I have my great grandmother's recipe, her side of the family is from Genoa. Hers is more of the "gravy" style.

6 lg onions chopped (or 10 med)
simmer until brown in bacon drippings.

add 3-4 pods of garlic, chopped fine or pressed
add to onions.

brown 2lbs good ground beef in mixture

(this is the fun part--they used to find seasoned dried mushrooms in packets, I cannot find them anywhere)

boil a good handful of dried mushrooms until tender in a small sauce pan of water, strain through a cloth--save (water) this mixture for the tomato part. rinse mushrooms, chop and then add to the tomato mixture. Need to add both to the tomato mixture. It does not say whether the water from the mushrooms is the water in the 1/2 can or not.

tomato mixture
2 lg cans of tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1/2 lg can of water
1T sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2T italian seasoning
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp sweet basil

Mix all and simmer for 4-5 hours.

I want to point out that my great grandmother used her own tomatoes. This was given to me by my grandmother and she used canned tomatoes, but not her own. Processed tomatoes already have sugar added to them. Depending on whether you are using your own or store bought, taste and decide if you want the sugar in there. I was always told that it helped cut the acidity of the tomatoes. I try to use roma tomatoes when I make mine from scratch, these don't seem to be as acidic, I don't use as much sugar.

 

[TobiasFunke]

This is the best sauce ever.

2 cans of whole tomatos
1 can of classico tomato and sweet basil
handful of fresh basil
2 teaspoons of oregano
salt
sugar
garlic

first you need to broil your tomatoes, then blend them with a food processor. add the classico sauce to your pan. add salt and a little sugar and oregano. cook on stove top on low for 10 minutes. add garlic to taste (stir the garlic in so that it doesn't burn). then bake the sauce. garnish with fresh basil

i cook mine with eggplant and bake the eggplant as well. if you do that you can add cheese to make a parma.

 

[2binak]

My family isn't Italian, but we come from a town that is primarily Italian. Here's the recipe my parents have used for years:

1 29-oz can of Contadina (sp?) brand crushed tomatoes
1 small can of Contadina brand tomato paste
Italian seasoning
2 cloves of garlic
onion powder
Salt & pepper
a pinch of sugar
A few shakes of parmesean cheese

Cook on high until it boils, then simmer on low for at least 1 hour, the longer the better. My father starts his sauce at 7am and cooks it until 4pm.

 

[mickey grandmom]

I'm Swiss/Welsh,but have been cooking since I was 15yrs old.

saute chopped onion and green pepper,3 cloves of garlic in a deep skillet.
Transfer to large pot when tender. Brown about 1/4 pound of ground beef.Salt and pepper meat. Add to pot when brown. Then add: 1 large commercial size can of tomato sauce,
1 can tomato paste, bay leaves,oregano,basil to taste. Add about a cup of red wine. Simmer for several hours until sauce is thickened and a rich red color.A spoon-full of sugar maybe added if sauce is too acidic.
I don't know if anyone else makes meatballs this way;I boil them.Bring a skillet of water that has been flavored with wine,basil and oregano to a boil.Add meatballs. When they turn a med. gray color they are ready to add to the sauce and simmer.

 

[mjkacmom]

I never buy jarred sauce (DH won't eat it). I heat up some olive oil (14 cup?), and saute about 1/2 cup of chopped onion for about 5 minutes, add a couple cloves of chopped garlic, cook a few more minutes, add a small can of tomato paste, cook a few minutes, and then add 4 - 6 large cans of combinations of tomato puree and crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt and pepper, some red wine if open, bring to a boil partially cover with a lid, lower the temperature and simmer for a few hours. You can also add meatballs, sausage, and/or braciolle. My kids don't like meat sauce.

 

[worm761]

Since you have some many recipes for sauce, here is my meatball recipe:

Meatballs

2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup seasoned dry breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce

Just mix everything together. You can either brown them in the pan and finish in your sauce or you can cook them in the oven. Personally, I like to put them in the sauce in the crockpot raw and let them cook all day. Super moist and super yummy!

 

[cseca]

If you've never made red sauce before just giving you a heads up, the brand of your canned tomatoes makes a HUGE difference.
Some brands will make your sauce bitter and that's why some recipes call for sugar or brown sugar to eliminate the bitter taste.

If you get a really good can of tomatoes it should be sweet, not bitter.

Good luck!