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Better than Barilla |
My family is Polish, so the only spaghetti dinners I ate growing up came out of the Kraft box. And at that point, having nothing authentic to compare them to, I actually liked them. Fast forward about 20 years. I hooked up [and subsequently broke up] with a series of Italian guys, and became spoiled by real-deal-from-Nonna's-kitchen spaghetti sauce, aka "gravy."
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If you want tasty sauce, use the best ingredients possible |
Although I included a recipe for Marinara Sauce in my
first cookbook, the fact is, you don't really need a recipe. There are as many versions of spaghetti sauce as there are cooks. But you
do need to remember this old printing adage, which I think also applies to most recipes: "shit in, shit out."
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The last of my windowsill basil ended up flavoring my pot of sauce. |
To concoct excellent marinara sauce, you need to amass a base of excellent ingredients: best-quality olive oil, fresh garlic and herbs [eg, basil, oregano, parsley] and most important – about 3 pounds of flavor-packed plum tomatoes. Canned or fresh does not matter. But the taste does. If the tomatoes taste neutral and lack that defining sweet acidity [sadly the case for much produce these days], it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that your sauce will end up tasting bland. If using fresh tomatoes, I recommend organic plum tomatoes.
Taste them before committing to making an entire pot of sauce. When using canned, try
San Marzanos which are naturally sweet and intense. I also like Pomi brand.
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Making sauce is meditative and not to be rushed. Do it only when you have time to putter about the kitchen. |
Spaghetti Sauce Guidelines
- Saute garlic in a liberal amount of olive oil. If desired, at this point, you can also add a chopped onion and/or a shredded carrot or a pinch of red pepper flakes [for Arrabiata Sauce]. If you're using tomato paste [Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't], add it after the garlic/onions are translucent and let it cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes. You can peel them first – or not. At this point, you can also add anything else you want, like chopped mushrooms; TVP [for Bolognese Sauce], olives, capers and miso [for Puttanesca Sauce], etc.
- Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. From time to time, you'll need to add some stock to the pot and stir. Continue this process [about 2-3 hours, or longer] until the sauce reaches the consistency and density of flavor that you desire. Add fresh herbs about 10 minutes before the sauce is finished. I like a chunky sauce, so I eat it as is. But if you want a "saucier" sauce, feel free to whiz it around in your food processor or blender,
Remember: Spaghetti sauce freezes well. If you're single or are not a big eater, you can freeze it in ice cube trays. That way, you'll have single-serving size "sauce cubes" for those nights when you're too tired to cook.
2 comments:
Gorgeous sauce!
I'm a huge fan of batching tomato sauces, for pizza and pasta--you should always have some in the freezer! I grew up on Ragu (yes, capital R, from the jar, Ragu) and there is simply no excuse for it.
I've just planted my tomatoes for the season. I am so into this. Thanks :)
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