Making red sauce is a tradition in my family that has been passed down through the years for generations.
There are many different kinds of red sauce, from marinara (no meat), to pizza sauce ( much more spicy and with a good bit of oregano) there are a few pointers in this post that should help you to make the best sauce you have ever tasted.
First and foremost any self respecting Italian knows this simple fact - there is NO SUGAR IN RED SAUCE - EVER!
(no butter either - YUK! how American!)
The sweetness of any good red sauce comes from the tomatoes and basil used (yes I said tomatoes) and relies on the PROCESS of making the sauce more than anything else.
Use the freshest ingredients possible, INCLUDING tomatoes. If you don't want to deal with blanching fresh tomatoes from the garden and peeling them, and running them through the tomato mill you can use any canned crushed, chopped or whole tomatoes you like. I prefer Contadina or hunts, but any should do. I prefer my sauce to be very thick so I accomplish this by simmering it down for hours, thus reducing it that way and then refrigerating it when it is done overnight.
That is an odd thing about good red sauce, it is always even better after it has been refrigerated and re warmed up. You can add some tomato puree to the mix as well for thickness, but puree and paste tend to be more sour so you need to increase your fresh basil if you decide to go that route.
This recipe is actually my great grandfather's who came to the US from Italy over 100 years ago. You will see that it is simple and has very few ingredients. The quality of the ingredients and their freshness is key - along with the PROCESS - which is just as important if not even more important.
Rule number 1 - do NOT burn the garlic
Rule number 2 - do NOT burn the sauce when you are bringing it to the first boil
Rule number 3 - if you burn either the garlic or the sauce on the first boil THROW IT ALL AWAY and start over...no amount of sugar will fix this....it is ruined.
Here is a list of ingredients. You can scale them in proportion up or down depending on how much of the red gold you desire.
1 pound of beef short ribs
1 pound of hot Italian pork sausage cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion minced
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic minced
1/3 cup of finely chopped FRESH parsley
3/4 cup of coarsely chopped FRESH basil
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
10 fresh tomatoes or 4 large cans of crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree (in any combination)
(TIP: use your nose as you cook to determine the right mix of seasoning)
That's it. Don't get caught up in making measurements exact. Do what you like and just keep in mind the ratios I list above. Again, the key to excellent spaghetti sauce is mostly the PROCESS. Once you make a sauce or two you will be able to add your own tweaks to this basic recipe to suit your taste.
You will soon be enjoying the best red sauce you have EVER tasted.
The process:
Step one.
Put your stove on medium heat to start this part. Heat up a large sauce pot with the extra virgin olive oil in the bottom. Once the oil is good and hot but not smoking add in the meats and brown them well. Let them get good and brown and do not stir them around very often or you will sort of boil them and not brown them. Let them stick a little to the pan as you go. It is that browning goodness that brings the flavor out in a big way once the tomatoes and or pureee deglazes all that browned goodness into the mix.
Step two:
Once the meats are well browned throw in the onions and let them cook until they are just starting to turn translucent and a little browned, but NOT BURNT!!!! After the onions are ready, throw down the garlic and cook for a very short time. Just long enough to take the harshness out of it. DO NOT BROWN or BURN the GARLIC...this is CRITICAL to good sauce. If you screw this part up you have ruined the batch and must start over. Near the end of the garlic cooking throw in 1/2 the parsely and let it soften while the garlic finishes...this step is like a few minutes at most after the onions are done.
Step 3:
Pour in your tomatoes and if you like you can add some water and a good cooking wine for another layer of flavorful delights. Again, this is more art than science and as long as you do the process correctly you have a lot of options to add your own style to it. Add the rest of the parsley, all the basil, salt and pepper at this time. Turn up the heat to high to get this concoction up to boiling. Be sure to STAY AT THE STOVE CONSTANTLY STIRRING until you get the sauce boiling while you stir it. This is the second CRITICAL part of the process. If you leave the stove to allow it to boil on its own you will burn the bottom of the sauce and again - ruin the whole batch. This can be tedious but it is as important as NOT burning the garlic. If you burn the sauce at this point you have again completely ruined the whole batch. No amount of sugar can fix this. Throw it away, its nasty!
Step four:
Once you get the sauce boiling around your stirring spoon while you stir it is ready for you to reduce the heat to simmer the sauce. Cover it lightly so as to keep it from splashing all over the stove and your arms. Nothing burns as exquisitely as hot spaghetti sauce. It sticks to your skin and seems to get hotter and hotter until you wipe or wash it off....Super painful!
Step five:
Once you have reduced the heat and covered the sauce you can finally walk away from it for larger stretches of time. You are well on your way to the best red sauce you have ever enjoyed. Make sure to check it every 15 to 20 minutes for the first hour or so and give it a good stir. If it is getting too thick on the bottom or boiling too hard reduce the heat. You want it to cook from here out as if it were a stew, low and slow boil.
The longer you simmer the more thick the sauce will become. Some people simmer the sauce all day long. My mom used to give it between 1.5 and 2 hours. I like to simmer for at least 3 hours.
If you like a thinner sauce add more tomatoes or cans of puree in the beginning and don't simmer it more than 2 hours.
I like a hotter sauce so I add a bit of red pepper to it with the other seasonings.
You can add mushrooms if you like, or carrots. but the more you add the LESS authentic the sauce becomes....DO NOT ADD SUGAR OR BUTTER - EVER. that is NOT authentic red sauce and if you have done it right you will surely NOT need these ingredients. The basil is what gives you the sweetness, along with the tomatoes. Puree is more sour, paste is even worse.
I have made my sauce with tomatoes straight from the garden using the blanching and tomato mill method and the sauce is literally SO sweet it actually needs a little vinegar or wine to tone the sweetness down if done right.
...And it is AMAZING tasting. Sometimes I eat it like soup or stew with no pasta it's so wonderful. Feel free to comment or ask any questions. I'll try to answer everyone who inquires. I just wanted to share this with everyone so you too can enjoy the real thing.