I took the bottom photo first, ate it, then realized that it might have been hard to see under all that grated Romano. So I took another photo sans cheese.
I learned this sauce from my in-laws and have been making it for 12 years now. This is my all-purpose red sauce. I love it on pizza. I love it on meatball subs. And I love it on pasta. It slow simmers on the stove for an hour. The sauce is thick which is great because you can add pasta water to get the consistency you like. If you start with a thin sauce, I'm not going to want to add any pasta water. Also, in general, I don't like thin sauces.
I feel like I should mention this is a tomato sauce for people that don't like tomatoes. Because I'm one of those people. It specifically doesn't use whole tomatoes because I don't want tomato chunks.
Today was the first time that I cooked it with any meat. Specifically, I made the recipe and split it into two pots, one with Italian sausage, one without. The browned sausage chunks simmered in the sauce for an hour. And surprisingly, the sauce turned out basically the same in both pots. I was expecting for the sausage to flavor the sauce but that didn't really happen. I did enjoy the sausage chunks for sure, but it's definitely optional and not a meaty revelation like I was hoping for.
1 medium onion, diced
28 oz crushed tomatoes
12 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
salt, pepper, garlic powder, herbs to taste
It's so simple to make. Saute the onion in some olive oil. Add the tomatoes and paste. Add the sugar and seasonings. Cook for an hour on a medium-low simmer. Then taste and adjust as necessary. Usually a bit more salt and pepper at the end.
Then serve with pasta and freshly grated cheese.
If you wanted it less sweet, you could certainly add less brown sugar. You could add red pepper flake or garlic for more a robust, balanced sauce.
The boys loved it. Brit liked it but said it was on the sweet side for her. I like it sweet because I like to cover it in salty, hard cheese.
This sounds great, though I'm also surprised by that outcome with the sausage not changing the flavor of the sauce much. One trick I've added to my very similar sauce (aside from plenty of garlic) is hitting it with a few dashes of fish sauce towards the end of simmering for an umami boost. Obviously only works if you're not keeping it vegetarian though.
ReplyDelete