Famous Pasta Sauce
Submitted by coolray
Big-batch Italian pasta sauce made with fresh canned tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, sage, and grated Romano and Parmesan cheese cooked right into the sauce. Perfect for simmering with homemade meatballs.
YIELD
1 large potPREP
20 minCOOK
90 minREADY
2 hrsThis is a Sunday sauce built for a crowd. Four quarts of tomatoes get milled to remove seeds and tough pulp, then combined with tomato sauce, tomato paste, and a thick jarred spaghetti sauce for a base that’s concentrated and rich from the start.
What makes this sauce different from most red sauces is the cheese. Grated Romano and Parmesan go directly into the pot while it simmers, melting into the sauce and giving it a savory depth and slight creaminess that you can’t get from herbs alone. The recipe encourages you to keep tasting and adjusting as it cooks, adding more cheese, more oregano, more parsley until it’s exactly yours.
Drop raw meatballs right into the simmering sauce and let them cook there. They absorb flavor from the sauce while the sauce picks up richness from the meat. That exchange is what makes a proper Sunday gravy.
Chef Tips
- Use a food mill, not a blender, to process the tomatoes. A blender incorporates air and emulsifies the seeds rather than removing them.
- Stir every 30 minutes to prevent the thick sauce from scorching on the bottom.
- A couple tablespoons of sugar balance the acidity from all those tomatoes. Add it early so it cooks in.
- Let the finished sauce rest off heat for 30 minutes before serving. The flavors settle and concentrate as it cools slightly.
Variations
- Brown Italian sausage links and nestle them into the sauce alongside the meatballs.
- Add a splash of red wine when the sauce first goes on the heat for more complexity.
- Stir in a handful of fresh torn basil right before serving for a bright, aromatic finish.
Ingredients
Directions
NOTE: It is best to use fresh canned tomatoes and when you use the spaghetti sauce, the thicker the better.
In a very LARGE pot, using a vegetable mill, grind tomatoes to remove seeds and hard pulp.
Pour the tomato sauce and spaghetti sauce in the mill, and process it.
If the tomatoes you added were watery, you might want to add a second jar/can of spaghetti sauce.
Clean the jars out with water.
The point you are trying to do is to retain as much of the essence of the ground whole tomatoes as possible.
Discard the debris.
Add the tomato paste directly to the tomato mixture.
(Note, clean the cans of paste as best as possible.
You want them to be very clean.)
Mix well.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Add all spices and the cheeses and mix well.
Cover and place on very low heat.
If you wish to add meatballs to the sauce while it is cooking now is the time to make them.
Once made, add them directly to the sauce.
As it cooks you may want to adjust the spices and the cheeses depending on your tastes.
We add at least another tablespoon of oregano, 2 table- spoons of parsley, a little more salt, and at least another ½ cup each of romano and parmesan cheeses.
Stir every half hour or so to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pot.
When the sauce is cooked down to your taste (and the meatballs are done to your liking), remove from heat and let sit for ½ hour.
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