Spaghetti Sauce

I haven't had spaghetti in probably a year.  Trying to eat low carb and all that.  I must have seen an advertisement for spaghetti sauce, because all of a sudden I had such a craving!

Store bought spaghetti sauce is OK.  I have used it, myself, especially when I had young kids at home.  Then throw together a salad and you have dinner!  But making your own sauce is easy and reasonably fast.  So why not do it yourself!  Sure you can cook it for hours to meld all the flavors together, but you don't have to. 

So here is my easy spaghetti sauce.  The nice thing about it is that you change things around to suit yourself and your family and it will still be good.

 

Spaghetti Sauce

EVOO
1 pound Italian Sausage, Sweet, Mild or Hot.  Or leave it out and you have a vegetarian sauce.
1/2 to 1 onion depending on size.
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 15 oz. canned Tomato Sauce
1 15 oz. Diced or Crushed Tomatoes.  This gives it some texture.
3 oz. (1/2 can ) Tomato Paste  The leftovers can be frozen for a future use.  It's great in soups.
1/2 teaspoon sugar  This cuts the acidity.
1 teaspoon Italian Herbs, crushed in your palm.
1/4 cup fresh, chopped up or 1 teaspoon dried parley
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup Burgundy (optional)

 

If you're in a rush, start the water for the pasta now.  Then when you finish with the sauce, the water will be ready and you can cook the pasta and everything will be done at the same time.  You can simmer the sauce for an hour or two if you want.

 

Put a Tablespoon or so of Olive Oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Dice the onions.  It may look like a lot, but it cooks down.  Add them to the hot oil.  Cook until soft and then add the sausage, if you are using it.  Continue cooking until it is no longer pink, breaking it up into small pieces.

 

Add the garlic and the s&p.

Pour in the two cans of sauce, the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste.  I discovered that I had some frozen, so I put the can back and used the frozen paste.  It will melt as you cook the rest.  Bring the sauce to the start of a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer.  The Burgundy adds a depth and richness, but isn't necessary.  Use it now, if you like.

Put in the sugar and stir.  Give it a taste.  If it is still too acidic you may add another 1/2 teaspoon.  No more than that.  This isn't catsup we are making here.

 

Add the herbs and stir them in.  Taste.  You can add more if you like, but not too much. You don't want to overpower the sauce.   Basil is good, too.

 

Let it simmer while you cook the pasta. If it seems a bit thin, cooking it longer thickens the sauce

How hard is that?

Serve it over pasta cooked al dente, or with just a bit of bite to it.  Be careful.  It goes from too hard to too soft fairly quickly.

 

This makes enough sauce for four to six servings, depending on whether you are making a salad and having bread, etc.  I froze the remainder and now I can cook up the pasta and heat the left over sauce and have a super fast dinner when I don't feel like cooking!