Grandma Dolly's Spaghetti Sauce
My mother-in-law is Italian. She's been making this spaghetti sauce forever and it's always a big treat when she comes to visit and cooks up a big pot of it. She puts meatballs in her sauce, which are scrumptious, but I've not been able to snag that part of the recipe yet. I use either ground beef or mushrooms.
You must not ever think that making your own spaghetti sauce from "scratch" is difficult. It's almost as easy as opening a couple of ready-made jars, but tastes a hundred times better. I hope you give it a try.
- 2 28 oz. cans Tomato Puree (plus 2 cans water)
- 2 15 oz. cans Tomato Sauce (plus 2 cans water)
- 2 6 oz. cans of Tomato Paste
- About 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 TBLS. Basil
- 1 TBLS. Parsley (or more)
- 1 TBLS Sugar
- 1 TBLS Baking soda
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- Ground hamburger or 1 pkg. sliced mushrooms for a meatless sauce (I like baby portobello)
- Olive oil
- Tinkyada Pasta Noodles (Whole Foods sells these)
The addition of the sugar and the baking soda take away the tart tomato taste and turn this into a more mellow tasting sauce.
First, saute the garlic in a little olive oil. Add the beef or mushrooms to brown. Then add all the other ingredients. Bring to a good simmer, then turn the heat down and let it lightly simmer for 2 or 3 hours (or more). Taste it and see if it needs more seasoning. Sometimes I make this around 1:00 in the afternoon and it cooks slowly all day long, making the house smell heavenly.
In today's batch, I added sliced mushrooms and some Tomato, Basil & Mozzrella Chicken Sausage I found at Costco. I simply chopped the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces and threw it into the pot of sauce. This sausage is spicy, so it gave the sauce a nice kick.
I serve over Tinkyada Pasta (you can use your own favorite gluten-free brand). Trader Joe's GF Brown Rice Penne is good, too.
I also made a box of Cheenies (30 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees), a cheesy roll that becomes addictive after only one bite. I find these at Whole Foods in the frozen section.