I call it sauce. Some call it dressing. Some call it gravy. Whatever you call it, each family has their own version – whether it is homemade or jarred. There is no one correct way to make pasta sauce. Each version is like an intimate peek into a family’s history and well-kept secrets. I’ve learned it’s not the amount of ingredients you put into a recipe that make it good. It’s the amount of time you spend allowing the flavors of each ingredient to come out and marry one another that leads to success.
It’s a labor of love. You want to be able to taste the love in the final product. Not just the love the cook has for the people he/she is making the dish for, but also the love they have for where they came from. Call me biased, but my grandmother’s sauce is the best there is. A second-generation Italian, my grandmother learned the original recipe from her parents. As she got older and started her family, she continued to expand on the recipe (no jarred sauce was allowed in her house) and passed the recipe down to my father – who then taught it to me. To this day, we’re not sure if the recipe we know is the original Sarno recipe, or if my grandfather – who is Irish, not Italian – added his own personal touches and therefore influenced the recipe we use today. Either way, it’s pretty damn good.
This recipe may not change how you feel about your own pasta sauce, nor would I want it to. Your family recipes are as sacred and essential to your family as any other tradition. But for those of you who are jarred sauce users, hopefully this recipe will have you asking “Prego, who?!”
This recipe is fairly simple and calls for only a handful of ingredients:
-olive/vegetable oil
-minced garlic
-parsley
-oregano
-basil
-salt
-black pepper
-crushed red pepper flake
-tomato paste (optional). Use if you want to make the sauce thicker.
-one stick of pepperoni
-one package of spicy Italian sausage
-five cans of crushed tomatoes or your favorite jarred sauce
As stated earlier, this is a labor of love. Though the preparation takes little time, once everything is combined together, the sauce needs to simmer for at least an hour to cook the meat all the way through.
If your family eats pasta the way mine does (my 16-year-old brother can put a pound away just by himself) this recipe yields enough sauce for a family of five and enough leftovers to fill approximately three freezing containers – so there will be plenty, don’t worry.
Step 1: Place your sauce pan over medium-low heat. I’ve made it on both an electric and gas over and dial setting “4” works just as well on either style.
**NOTE: This past weekend, I made it using a brand new sauce pot. Because the pot had not been broken in yet, I kept the temperature just a bit lower at dial setting “3.” This prevented the food from sticking to the bottom.**
Step 2: Add enough olive oil to completely coat the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have olive oil, vegetable oil is a good substitute and won’t affect the taste of the sauce. Let the oil heat up.
**NOTE: You can tell it’s warm by dipping the end of your wooden spoon in and seeing if it bubbles around it.**
Step 3: Add a healthy spoonful of the minced garlic. Or, if you prefer to use fresh garlic, finely chop up one clove.
Herbs.As the garlic browns, mix in one palm-full of the oregano, parsley, and basil. How much red pepper flakes you add depends on how spicy you like your sauce. For a mild flavor with very little spice, use just a pinch. For more of a kick, I use a palm-full. It’s not enough to make your eyes water or nose run, but you can feel it at the back of your throat. Let these simmer in the oil for a few minutes but be careful not to burn them – it will ruin the flavor of the sauce.
The smell emanating from the kitchen at this point is incredible. It’s the smell you experience every time you set foot into any Italian restaurant. The rich and savory smell of the garlic mixed with the earthy and bitter smell of the herbs is enough to make you want to eat the pot right then and there. If your mouth doesn’t water at this smell alone, then you are not human. I know people who are (unfortunately) allergic to garlic and still appreciate the smell.
**Fun Fact: If you don’t mind smelling like food, the smell of the garlic and herbs will stay in your clothes until you wash them next. This may sound weird, but you’ll smell delicious….if you’re OK with that kind of thing.**
How strong the herbs smell is usually an indicator of when you should start adding the meat.
Meat. Skin the sausage links and cut them into quarters – then add to the pot. Since the sausage is raw, you want to make sure it’s browned up a bit before adding the pepperoni, which I cut into half-inch pieces. The meat should cook in the oil for at least half an hour. By cooking the meat in the sauce, it stays nice and juicy and retains the flavor of the spices.
**NOTE: Save the meat on your plate until the very end and use it to soak up the extra sauce still on your plate. There is nothing better. **
Tomatoes. Add the cans of tomatoes or jarred sauce when you see the pepperoni’s color deepen and the grease seep into the oil – making it look red. Stir as you add each can to blend everything together. Add one can of warm water (or less depending on how many cans of tomatoes you used) and finish with a palm-full of salt and black pepper to taste.
Step 7: Cover the pot until the sauce comes to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer. The first time I made this, I didn’t realize the tomatoes and oil separate so be sure to check on it regularly and stir. Tomato paste can be added if the sauce looks too thin.
There you have it, my Italian grandmother’s pasta sauce. If it doesn’t win you over, or at least help spruce up your favorite gravy, I won’t hold it against you – my grandmother, however, might not be so forgiving.
(If you still prefer the jarred sauce after trying this, then you’re just weird, sorry 🙂 )
A Picky Eater's Adventure in Food 