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3 – 4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
6 Garlic cloves peeled
1 Lb. Piece of boneless beef such as eye of the round, or shoulder steak
1 Lb. Piece of boneless Pork shoulder
3 Tbs. Tomato paste
1/2 Cup dry red wine
3 28 oz. cans Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
1 Lb. Hot or sweet Italian sausages (or a combination)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbs. Fresh oregano, finely chopped
4 Tbs. Fresh basil, finely chopped
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
Preparation:
Heat a large, heavy-bottomed casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the garlic. (Don’t allow the garlic to brown.) Add the meat, turning frequently to brown on both sides. As the meat is browned, remove it and reserve. If necessary, brown the meat in batches.
Combine the tomato paste and wine and add to the pot. Raise the heat to high. Stirring constantly, boil for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol. Add the tomatoes and their juices, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a fork as they go in. As the sauce begins to bubble, lower the heat so the tomatoes simmer gently. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary. Stir in the oregano, basil, and parsley.
Return the beef and pork to the pot. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for two hours, or until the meat begins to fall apart. Add the sausages and meatballs, and simmer gently for another hour.
Remove the meat from the sauce, and place in a large bowl, or on a platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.
I make about two gallons of marinara sauce at a time. I simmer it for at least two days starting with about three gallons and ending up with two.. I never add meat while I'm making my basic sauce. That's for specific dishes. There's no reason to saute the garlic. Mince it and add it to the sauce when adding spices. The taste is far better. Always plan to add more just before serving. I do add brown sugar to taste. The time to add cheese is after the finished dish is on the plate, never while cooking.
Plain white vinegar does give it an interesting bite. I have a recipe for a meat loaf sauce using vinegar. I need to have it again some time; it's been years and I'd forgotten about it. I don't use wine in my marianara sauce.
Sugar isn't added to make the sauce sweet by the way. It's added to counter the acidity of the tomatoes, which become more acidic the longer they simmer. For a -vat- of sauce (that'd be a few gallons, meant for canning/jarring/freezing), just a 1/4 of a cup of sugar is used. So for a week's worth for a family of four, a pinch is likely the most you'd need.
I make about two gallons of marinara sauce at a time. I simmer it for at least two days starting with about three gallons and ending up with two.. I never add meat while I'm making my basic sauce. That's for specific dishes. There's no reason to saute the garlic. Mince it and add it to the sauce when adding spices. The taste is far better. Always plan to add more just before serving. I do add brown sugar to taste. The time to add cheese is after the finished dish is on the plate, never while cooking.
Plain white vinegar does give it an interesting bite. I have a recipe for a meat loaf sauce using vinegar. I need to have it again some time; it's been years and I'd forgotten about it. I don't use wine in my marianara sauce.
Perhaps I'll try your recipe. I have to cook meat in my sauce though, but I just love the taste. In fact, I go very light on the herbs and spices because the neck bones are so flavorful. Sometimes I cook meatballs in the sauce too. Pork and veal, and I add them in raw.
3 – 4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
6 Garlic cloves peeled
1 Lb. Piece of boneless beef such as eye of the round, or shoulder steak
1 Lb. Piece of boneless Pork shoulder
3 Tbs. Tomato paste
1/2 Cup dry red wine
3 28 oz. cans Italian plum tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
1 Lb. Hot or sweet Italian sausages (or a combination)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbs. Fresh oregano, finely chopped
4 Tbs. Fresh basil, finely chopped
4 Tbs. Flat-leaf Italian parsley, finely chopped
Preparation:
Heat a large, heavy-bottomed casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the garlic. (Don’t allow the garlic to brown.) Add the meat, turning frequently to brown on both sides. As the meat is browned, remove it and reserve. If necessary, brown the meat in batches.
Combine the tomato paste and wine and add to the pot. Raise the heat to high. Stirring constantly, boil for a minute or two to evaporate the alcohol. Add the tomatoes and their juices, breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a fork as they go in. As the sauce begins to bubble, lower the heat so the tomatoes simmer gently. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary. Stir in the oregano, basil, and parsley.
Return the beef and pork to the pot. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for two hours, or until the meat begins to fall apart. Add the sausages and meatballs, and simmer gently for another hour.
Remove the meat from the sauce, and place in a large bowl, or on a platter. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.
this is what i use and i loveee it, give it a try
Sounds like a great recipe (not all that dissimilar to mine, actually). I've always intended to add hot sausage to my sauce, but have not yet tried.
Never understood why people add red or white vinegar to their Sunday gravy.
If you must brown your garlic do it in the oven as a whole head, not as likely to burn it. Dosent make sense to me in a sauce that will be cooking for 2 plus hours but if you must....
I've been making sauce for pasta for about 40 years.
During the first 10 years or so, every once in a while my sauce tasted "off", what we regarded as OK, but not good.
I use tomato puree in my basic spaghetti sauce. My sauce cooks for 5 hours. If I used canned or fresh tomatoes I'd have to start it in the morning. My husband could always tell if I started the sauce around 1 instead of noon.
I read an article about 30 years ago in which they tested various tomato purees in making pasta sauce. They noted that only one brand gave a consistent result. They discovered that the acidity in tomatoes can vary from year to year, or soil to soil. It's the acidity in tomatoes that gives you the varying result in taste. To me, changing the amount of sugar used never "fixed" anything. I always add just under a tablespoon. I learned that adding more just made the sauce sweeter, not better (if it was "off").
The article stated that RedPak made the most consistent puree because they blended their tomatoes to achieve a consistent acidic balance.
I used only RedPak after that and had perfect results every time.
Then we moved to Maine, and I couldn't get RedPak puree. After so many years I had forgotten why I always bought RedPak. My sauce sucked after we moved, then I remembered why I always bought RedPak. One time a store here had it, and my sauce went back to perfect for a while.
I finally found a puree that was ok, as long as I added a cup of decent red wine to the sauce, but whenever relatives came up from PA, they had to bring me cans of RedPak.
During my years without RedPak, I found that Rienzi tomato puree was the closest in taste and final results, but Rienzi was a bit thinner.
When I discovered that my local Walmart had started stocking RedPak I stocked my pantry. I now have enough puree to make sauce till the end of next year. Every once in a while I buy a few more cans. From past experience I've found that products come and go off the shelves here. Another store had RedPak for a couple of months and then it was gone. AGONY!!
For my regular everyday type sauce, besides the RedPak, I use a sauteed onion, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, beef broth, oregano, parsley, basil, marjoram, 2 shakes of allspice, a shake of ground red pepper, some black pepper, @ 2 tsp sugar, I guess, half a stick of good pepperoni, and meatballs if I feel like it. The meatballs add great flavor, but my family are not meatball lovers. Sometimes I'll make a bunch of meatballs, brown, then freeze them, adding a few to the sauce. I rarely add salt, as the beef broth usually has enough already.
I just spill out the herbs in my hand to measure, so I'm not sure, but I use @ 1/2 tsp or a little more of the oregano, parsley, basil & marjoram.
I generally used dried herbs, have used fresh, but my husband never notices the difference, so it doesn't really matter. Using fresh herbs while cooking is nicer for the nose of the cook than the palate I guess.
People rave about my sauce. Repair men who have visited my house while it was cooking have left drooling.
I've been making sauce for pasta for about 40 years.
During the first 10 years or so, every once in a while my sauce tasted "off", what we regarded as OK, but not good.
I use tomato puree in my basic spaghetti sauce. My sauce cooks for 5 hours. If I used canned or fresh tomatoes I'd have to start it in the morning. My husband could always tell if I started the sauce around 1 instead of noon.
I read an article about 30 years ago in which they tested various tomato purees in making pasta sauce. They noted that only one brand gave a consistent result. They discovered that the acidity in tomatoes can vary from year to year, or soil to soil. It's the acidity in tomatoes that gives you the varying result in taste. To me, changing the amount of sugar used never "fixed" anything. I always add just under a tablespoon. I learned that adding more just made the sauce sweeter, not better (if it was "off").
The article stated that RedPak made the most consistent puree because they blended their tomatoes to achieve a consistent acidic balance.
I used only RedPak after that and had perfect results every time.
Then we moved to Maine, and I couldn't get RedPak puree. After so many years I had forgotten why I always bought RedPak. My sauce sucked after we moved, then I remembered why I always bought RedPak. One time a store here had it, and my sauce went back to perfect for a while.
I finally found a puree that was ok, as long as I added a cup of decent red wine to the sauce, but whenever relatives came up from PA, they had to bring me cans of RedPak.
During my years without RedPak, I found that Rienzi tomato puree was the closest in taste and final results, but Rienzi was a bit thinner.
When I discovered that my local Walmart had started stocking RedPak I stocked my pantry. I now have enough puree to make sauce till the end of next year. Every once in a while I buy a few more cans. From past experience I've found that products come and go off the shelves here. Another store had RedPak for a couple of months and then it was gone. AGONY!!
For my regular everyday type sauce, besides the RedPak, I use a sauteed onion, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, beef broth, oregano, parsley, basil, marjoram, 2 shakes of allspice, a shake of ground red pepper, some black pepper, @ 2 tsp sugar, I guess, half a stick of good pepperoni, and meatballs if I feel like it. The meatballs add great flavor, but my family are not meatball lovers. Sometimes I'll make a bunch of meatballs, brown, then freeze them, adding a few to the sauce. I rarely add salt, as the beef broth usually has enough already.
I just spill out the herbs in my hand to measure, so I'm not sure, but I use @ 1/2 tsp or a little more of the oregano, parsley, basil & marjoram.
I generally used dried herbs, have used fresh, but my husband never notices the difference, so it doesn't really matter. Using fresh herbs while cooking is nicer for the nose of the cook than the palate I guess.
People rave about my sauce. Repair men who have visited my house while it was cooking have left drooling.
I have an aunt who only uses RedPak, another who swears by Contadina, and my girlfriend's mom only uses Dei Fratelli.
I've had good results with Contadina, Cento, and La Valle. I've only found La Valle canned whole San Marzanos, so I hand crush them before making the sauce. La Valle generally require longer cooking time than Cento to achieve the same intensity of flavor.
Now my grandmother -- the real cook in the family -- tells me something different each time I talk with her. Sometimes garden tomatoes, sometimes Contadina puree, sometimes San Marzanos. Sometimes paste, sometimes not. Her sauce is very consistent, so she definitely has some tricks up her sleeve. She's shared with me a lot of family recipes, many of which were brought over from the "Old Country", but she's definitely protective of her sauce.
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