Look for Pasta Sauce recipe

[Kyle]

Anyone have a really good red pasta sauce recipe to share? I've never made sauce before, but I have an insane amount of frozen tomatoes to use up.

[Deitz Dittrich]

really not all that hard.. and can do whatever you want.. take roughly half of your maters you are going to use and throw them in the blender.. less if you want thicker/chunkier.. more if you want less chunky.. simmer it down, add other veggies, shrooms, onions, ect.. whatever you want.. add a pinch or two of sugar to take the acid bite off the maters.

I never use a recipe, all will depend on what I have on hand. Ive even smoked a bunch of veggies and done the same thing. Egg plant, squash.. any ole veggie works great.

[LABS4ME]

This is the best sauce recipe I've ever used. It is for lasagna, but I double it and make spaghetti too. After using what I need for the lasagna, I thin the sauce ever so slightly for spaghetti. I like a thick hearty spaghetti sauce. I always use fresh tomatoes vs. canned. The sauce freezes well... so does the lasagna. Great to pull a homemade meal out of the freezer, thaw heat and serve.

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4.To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5.Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Good Luck!

Ken

[MNHunter65]

I use the same recipe as Ken and it is awesome. When I'm making lasagna, I always make extra sauce for pasta at a later time. If you like a good meat sauce, this is the one.

[pushbutton]

I am in Deitz's camp. Really do not use a recipe either as the mix of maters will have different levels of acids and sugars in any given year. The key to a good sauce is that blend of salt, sugar, acid, and oil/fat........8 thumbs up for pork fat though Also as he points out there is a fine line to walk with the sugar.....go lightly when adding it since just one extra pinch can throw it off sometimes. I personally like mine a tad bit sweet, with a ton of different seasonings, thick, and smooth; so often will add some paste. Mrs pushbutton, on the other hand, likes it chunkier without the paste, more acidic and just a few key spices. If adding onions or veggies a rendering/caramelizing in a pan, grill, or smoker would be a good idea before adding the maters. Ultimately though, go low and slow, add whatever floats your boat, and taste often......

[delcecchi]

Here is a Marinara sauce recipe (meatless basic sauce)

This uses canned tomatoes but frozen ought to work just as well.

From Cooks Illustrated.

Marinara Sauce

Published March 1, 2006.

Makes 4 cups.

Why this recipe works:

For a multidimensional marinara sauce recipe that would take less than an hour to prepare, we chose canned whole tomatoes for their flavor and texture, hand-crushing them and removing the hard core and stray bits of skin at the same time. We boosted tomato flavor by sautéing the tomato meats until they glazed the bottom of the pan, after which we added their liquid. Our last clever touch—we shortened the simmering time for our marinara sauce recipe by using a skillet instead of a saucepan (the greater surface area of a skillet encourages faster evaporation and flavor concentration).

This recipe makes enough to sauce more than a pound of pasta; leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen. Because canned tomatoes vary in acidity and saltiness, it's best to add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste just before serving. If you prefer a chunkier sauce, give it just three or four pulses in the food processor in step 4.

Ingredients

2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes , packed in juice

2tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)

2medium cloves garlic , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)

1/2teaspoon dried oregano

1/3cup dry red wine , such as Chianti or Merlot

3tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper

1 - 2teaspoons sugar , as needed (see note above)

Instructions

1. Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder.

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes.

4. Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender); and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

[Leaky]

This is the best sauce recipe I've ever used. It is for lasagna, but I double it and make spaghetti too. After using what I need for the lasagna, I thin the sauce ever so slightly for spaghetti. I like a thick hearty spaghetti sauce. I always use fresh tomatoes vs. canned. The sauce freezes well... so does the lasagna. Great to pull a homemade meal out of the freezer, thaw heat and serve.

1 pound sweet Italian sausage

3/4 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

2.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

4.To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5.Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Good Luck!

Ken

Labs - This looks to be "The Worlds Greatest Lasgana" recipe from Allrecipes dot com. I just made this for a boys weekend last week. Some homemade french bread along side. This is my go to for lasag. (Do 1/2 ricotta & half cottage cheese). Its even better if you can let it set up overnight in the fridge.

[LABS4ME]

Yep... That's where I got it from... Tweak it a little each time I make it... Love for spaghetti and lasagna! But NEVER cottage cheese! uts a matta you?

Good luck!

Ken

[Leaky]

[3andadog]

I use this recipe from Fabio Vivani, it is basically the same as dels. I also make it with fresh tomatoes. If the sauce gets too liquid I add a can or 2 of tomato paste:

INGREDIENTS

6 cloves garlic

6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

28 oz can of whole plum tomatoes (packed in only tomato juice)

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

3-4 leaves fresh basil for garnish

Method:

Smash 6 cloves of garlic with the back of a knife.

Over medium heat, cook garlic in 3 Tbsp. of EVOO until golden brown.

Add tomatoes and generous pinch of salt and pepper.

Cook until thick (about 8 to 10 minutes) and is no longer watery in consistency.

Add 3 more Tbsp. more of EVOO, turn to higher heat.

Crush tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.

Cook until the oil turns red. This will tell you the sauce is done!

Cook's Note: The sauce is very versatile and can be used with any pasta; added to meats, fish, vegetables; or topped on toasted crostini, breads, pizza crusts.