Italian Pasta Sauce
by Pasta sauce is a point of contention among Italians. I made a pot of my mother's recipe the other day for some friends, and one said it tasted like his grandmother's, who was Dutch. I won't devulge my family's secret sauce recipe, but share yours with me. I can make some kind of hybrid super-sauce. Maybe I'll share if properly coerced...
Come on, Betty Crocker has nothing on eZabel.
AI Summary
90 Comments
SO in the mood for some good Italian. *off to the kitchen* I must confess Turkey meatballs not the same "kick" as beef - Meh
Turkey is def not as good as a pork, veal, beef mixture, but try spicing your turkey meatball mix up with red pepper flakes. If you're into freezing food and saving it for later meals, here's a sweet-tasting recipe. Make your meatballs golf ball size, cook and freeze them. Mix up the following ingredients into a slow cooker: 1 (32 ounce) jar grape jelly, 2 (12 ounce) jars chili sauce, 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional). Put your meatballs in and let simmer until heated through.
I die. I cannot wait to try this! Thanks :o)
As irony would have it, I am JUST getting over a stomach virus that did a HitandRun on my tummy for a few days. Now I am craving every food imaginable. #FakePreggos
Okay so I'm having to make a slight variation on this right noww. I only buy preserves and apricot and strawberry are all I have. I'm going to use the strawberry. I'll let you know how this turns out :o)
Also, a tip my mom taught me is that when using canned tomatos, it is better to used whole canned tomatos rather than crushed, and you just squish em with your hands. I don't know what it is, but it's better.
So I made meatballs and sauce last week, and i think i have perfected my meatballs. First off, i really prefer just using beef. second, i used all fresh herbs, and much more onion then i did before.
Also, i made them quite small, like golf ball size. And i after pan frying them, i simmered them in my red sauce for a long while.
Also, something different i did with my sauce was that I got two lamb shanks that I seared in a little olive oil until they were brown on all sides and put that in the sauce and cooked it for hours til the meat fell off the bone.
This was my best batch of sauce & meatballs yet!
very exciting.
if you didn't pat yourself on the back so much, i'd be more excited to say that this sounds really, really delicious
haha, sorry. i was a little full of myself. it's just that, i'm italian, and to not make really good meatballs is a pretty embarrassing thing! i was a little overly excited. :-X
I LOVE lamb shanks! (that's a whole other forum!) We had an impromptu dinner guest a few weeks ago, and I happened to have bought 3 lamb shanks, thinking I'd have leftovers, but he partook of the extra. I'd never seen a shank bone so clean!
haha, it's such a good feeling when you know people really enjoy something you worked hard on.
so, how did you make it?
I salted, peppered and floured the shanks and browned them in olive oil in a dutch oven. Then I took em out and put em on a platter.
In my food processor, I created a paste with carrots, celery, onion and a little garlic. I sauteed that in a dutch oven for about ten minutes, until softened. I cleared a little spot in the bottom of the pot and browned some tomato paste. I added a bottle of merlot, a few bay leaves and sprigs of fresh rosemary, and put the shanks back in. I put them in the oven for about 2 hours at like 350.
After the 2 hours, I added lots of potatoes and carrots chopped really big and let them cook with the lamb for another hour. I served it with lots of warm crunchy bread to soak up the juice. I loved it!
that sounds awesome!! yum! maybe i'll do that this week.
i just boil tomatoes diced onion and garlic with some mustard pepper for pizzazz
It's not pasta sauce, but it's sauce related. Yes, here it is, my meatball recipe:
Ingredients:
1/3 lb. ground beef
1/3 lb. ground pork
1/3 lb. ground veal
1/3 c. milk
about 5 slices crusty bread, or a small baguette (preferably day-old)
2/3 c. italian breadcrumbs
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. mustard (I prefer Grey Poupon)
1/4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 T. Italian seasoning
1/2 c. grated pecorino-romano cheese
2 eggs
2 T. olive oil
*Red Tomato Sauce*
Directions:
1. Cut the bread into 1/8 inch cubes. Place it in a small bowl with the milk and press it down to absorb the liquid.
2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Drain 80% of the liquid from the bread cubes by squeezing them in your hand, and add them to the meat mixture. Combine again.
3. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over a medium flame. Using your palms, roll the meat into 1/3 inch diameter balls and place them into the skillet. Brown on all sides, or about 2 minutes per side.
4. To finish, simmer the cooked meatballs in a saute pan with your favorite red tomato sauce, making sure the sauce covers them so that they may absorb the flavors.
Enjoy!
mmmm those sound DELECTIBLE. haha i will try.
I made these last night and Donovan said they were one of my best batches so far. I still don't have the recipe memorized, though, I had to look on here to make sure I put all the ingredients in. I changed the recipe to 2 eggs instead of 1.
i made these last night, it's so strange, i consider myself to be a good cook, (especially w/ italian food) but this is the second time i've attempted meatballs, and they've not come out that great. i think the biggest thing is the size, i think i need to make them smaller, cuz the outside is good, then the inside seems too mushy and almost undercooked tasting.
it was funny, a friend of mine is dating a brother from italy, and i met him a couple weeks ago, and he was saying it's so gross sounding that us americans mix everything together...italians eat the pasta first, totally separate, then the meatballs as a second dish. interesting tidbit.
With the meatballs, how long do you continue cooking them in the sauce??
you could try browning them in your pan and then baking them.
you mean, baking them, not in sauce, just on a cookie sheet or something....?
I'm not sure. I'll ask my dad. All I remember is that's how he and pa (his dad) would do it.
yea, i'm gonna keep trying it until i've perfected the meatball...i feel like a disgrace to my heritage. lol
That's how my mom does them. Also, she only makes them about 1.5"-2" in diameter.
you can fry them in a pan with a little olive oil to brown them
My mother bakes them on a cookie sheet first for a while and then dumps them in the sauce.
I only cook them in the sauce for about 10 or 15 minutes. Mine are always the size of the inside of my palm, so that's not huge. And if they're a little too mushy inside, maybe you could use a little more breadcrumbs to dry them out more. If you're scared of too much spice you could use unflavored breadcrumbs or just chop a couple slices of stale bread. They should hold together pretty tightly in your hand.
yea, i cooked mine about 15 mins in the sauce. i think the size is my issue, i think mine were bigger than that.
my mom makes the best meatballs in the whole world... i think the key is she uses a lot of eggs and breadcrumbs. they are so light and fluffy and delicious
I also add chopped basil to the meatyballs. I'm going to make these this afternoon, and instead of letting them finish cooking in my regular sauce, I'm going to make a batch of fresh, simple marinara for them to hang out in. Oooh!!!
These came out really nice today. The simple marinara (just garlic, tomatoes and fresh basil) was a really sweet compliment. I also stirred all the ingredients but the meat and the bread crumbs together first this time, rather than just struggling with all that meat in a bowl; it worked really well. I then just put in the breadcrumbs and added milk from the bread-soaking bowl as needed to moisten. A little over 3 pounds of meat is a huge amount - I guess it's a good thing that as I was on the phone, Donovan snuck like 12 meatballs!
I'm going to make these today, since I'm still living the life of leisure. I forgot to get bread at the store yesterday, so now I have to go out for just one thing, which I hate.
I've discovered that mixing all the ingredients except the meat first makes it totally easier to mix. So whisk everything in with the egg and then mix that into the meat with your hands. It's much easier.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but it is so yummy to put cheese in the center of a meatball. A little cube of mozzarella or provelone. Mmm Mmm!
mmm, yea. That's like how you make rice balls; with the mozzarella in the center. (Which by the way are EXTREMELY time consuming) but super delish.
Arancini! Mmmm I love those things!!
i know! i miss that you can't get them at pizzarias here, like you can in NY. hmph.
bah! I'm like a 3 hour drive from NY now so I can't get them either.
Man. I had quite an awful experiance making them one time. It was the first time i did it, and had no idea how involved it was making the risotto from scratch...and we were having company over...(people that had never come over before) when they got there, the kitchen was a wreck and i was literally in tears. But man, they were good. haha
My Dad makes the best riceballs. I order them at every restaurant that has them on the menu. I haven't yet found a place that compares to my Dad's.
I love arancini! Every time I make risotto, I make extra for them. I always say to Donovan "I'm making arancini, do you want some?" and he says no, I think because he doesn't remember what they are - then he inevitably steals some of the batch I thought was just for me. :P They're so good!
my mom makes the BEST sauce ever. it's for her steak piziaole. it's so good, and she bakes it for HOURS. its wonderful.
one of my favorite lunch (or whenever i feel like it) sandwichs are just plain tomato sandwichs. it's the best on either rye bread or an english muffin..with just a little mayo, salt & pepper..yummy!
i recently rediscovered stewed tomatoes. so good for a "cheat" to juice-ify meals. i love putting them on my eggs (if i'm out of salsa), in my sauce (if i'm in a pinch and can't make a full on sauce), or mixing with some rice for a super fast meal. so tasty.
kamila makes awesome red sauce, i drink it in gallons
i haev no idea whats in it, probably ice cream and small donaughts
hahahhaha
I'm not allowed to mess with the red sauce I've been making for years. No experimenting at all. Adam won't eat it if it has big veggie chunks or anything like that in it. So if I do make a new batch, I have to make him his own "usual" red sauce.
My "secret recipe" that he loves so much? Ground beef and a jar of Prego. No joke. That's it.
NO NO!!!!!!!!! PLEASE dont tell me you use prego. ugh! that is sacrelige. if you HAVE to use a jar sauce...at LEAST make it barilla, or classico. those are at least reputible. haha
which reminds me...i have three jars of my aunts homemade sauce at home. totally made from scratch...tomatos grown in her backyard. mmm, cant wait for some pasta tonight.
I only use Prego for Adam, 'cause that's what he has been used to for years. But lately I've been experimenting (I have a recipe for my own, that I'm afraid to try on him), so I might throw that one in some day soon and not tell him.
my grandmother would roll over in her grave... if she was dead
haha never mention a store brand or any brand of sauce to an Italian woman. She will kill you
Ragu... its the devil... nothing can beat Grandmas!
i found out that it is not even a funny joke to some people...
yeah. people are dead serious about their sauces and gravies. actually, the people who suggest jar sauces and gravies are made into sauces and gravies themselves. blub blub blub.
i love when people put cheese in their sauce
for my sauce, i sautee whole cloves of garlic and onions in olive oil to start. i then add a can of tomato puree and i dice a few tomatos and add those. i usually fill the can up with water and swish it around and then add that to the pot because it stretches the sauce a bit more. i spice it up with a variety of italian herbs.
if i'm cooking for kids and i need to make a sweet sauce and fast i'll use a can of paste, but i don't like using it on a regular basis. a nice all day "sunday" sauce is the best.
if i have some, i put a few bones in there for flavor. if i'm cooking for others, i fry up some meatballs sausage in a separate pan and add them to the sauce. (btw if someone wants me to cook for them i recently found the best meatball recipe but i don't eat beef) let it simmer on low for a few hours and it thickens up real nice. =P mmm mmm
Pfft...kids and their sweet sauce.
And you are the first person I've ever heard to use bones for flavor in tomato sauce. That's interesting.
I put a lot of other things in it, but I can't tell all of my secrets. ;)
i start out like forreste but i shred carrots in it to break up the acidicy and sometimes add pepperoni slices for flavor
ohhh interesting variations. i also like olives in my sauce sometimes.
hmm green or black? sometimes i dice up green peppers and throw them in too. andrew really likes that.
i perfer black and i love green peppers in my sauce too. i like having little extras like that.
Is it really worth all that effort to make your own sauce?
I just heat up a jar of Ragu, the onion and herb one, and once my sausage is cooked I drop it in the sauce for a little and let it simmer.
If it's worth it I'll try it out. After all I have a brand new garlic press I haven't used yet.
definitely much better homemade. and it's not that much work really. you just throw everything in and let it cook.
we've got a garlic press here! i love it! my breath stinks!
I picked up that and a bunch of other stuff at the last Pampered Chef party I was at. I'm addicted to that stuff!
i've got the same one. it even presses the skin off. i was like, "whoaaa, pampered chef has tastey lil nuggets of alien technology."
i got one and i dont know why-i never use it.
i also find that a lot of onion give the sauce to much of an acidic taste that even the carrots can't help. i usually use onion powder instead. and sometimes instead of the puree i like to use crushed tomatos. gives it more of that chunky texture.
I'm not one for chunks of tomato in my sauce. Maybe I'll give it a try next week. Cooking is so much fun when you know what your doing and it comes out right.
it's not chunky like if you put tomatos in, it just makes it more textured instead of very smooth. guess it all depends on what you like but it really doesn't change the taste. also be careful of what brand you use for the base-that can make a big difference.
Hunts no good? What about Carnation? What do you reccomend?
I usually use Carnation or another one w/ a red label and "Red" in the name but i can't remember the rest of it. i think hunt's was the one i didn't like. it was really sweet and watery and weird. but i think i like carnation the best
Cool beans, thanks. I know the RED sauce your talking about too but the name escapes me.
i like the redpak diced with the spices in it. it's pretty good.
REDPAK! that's the name. thanks forreste
that's the exact way i do it too. i have yet to try grinding fresh tomatos up for sauce. my mom does it sometimes, and it def. makes it amazing.
I peel the skin off my tomatoes by scoring and flashing them, then squish them with my hands. Wear an apron, that's my only caution.
okay, i'm italian, so OBVIOUSLY a good cook, haha ;-) but i'm not a chef (by profession) so i'm not down w/ the lingo. by scoring, you mean putting a slit in the skin? and flashing you mean dipping them quick in hot water? thats the only thing that i came up with.
You're totally right. Pull off the stems, slice the skin slightly twice all around (forming quarters) then drop them in boiling water for about 15 seconds. The skin peels right off. I found that when I put them in with the skin on, although the color is darker, the sauce is more bitter. I like it on the lighter side.
interesting! i think i will try it tonight. i have no plans...so i'll cook!
know what i love about making a big pot of sauce? it's super versitle..plus you can make a large amount and it freezes well.
I love it when I've got nothing to do but cook. Make some meatballs too!
okay, i am really upset. i spent over 3 hours in the kitchen yesterday between making the sauce and cleaning everything up. and you know what? the sauce came out terrible. it didnt taste BAD, it just didnt taste GOOD. i have no idea what i could have done. i made my sauce how i normally make it...and it comes out good...i just normally used crushed canned tomatos. the only things i could think of that i did wrong are...
1. maybe i used the wrong tomatos? what kind do you use diana?
2. i didnt take the seeds out of the tomatos...
i just used my food processor to chop it all up. (i did remove the skins) maybe the tomatos werent ripe enough. i just dont know...but i'm quite upset.
I usually use beefsteak tomatoes. I never remove the seeds. It's possible that you had a tomato that was not ripe enough or that was sour; sometimes you can't tell a sour tomato until you actually taste it. Otherwise, is it possible you burned your garlic?
no, i didnt burn the garlic. i used roma tomatos...i do think they could have been riper...they werent green, but they werent a vibrant red. i will try it again..but it did make a mess. haha it was fun doing it though.
I'm sorry it didn't work for you! Do you typically add sugar to your sauce? It's possible that since you weren't using canned tomatoes, with all the sugar they have, you weren't getting any sweetness, which may have been causing the poor taste. I've always added sugar just as a preference, but it might make a difference. Also, I've always used a crazy amount of garlic. For 1 batch (about 10 large tomatoes), I use 2 full heads of garlic. Did your sauce have a less-spicy flavor? Roma tomatoes actually have the fewest seeds and juice of any tomato.
i did add some sugar, I dont typically. But when things were going down hill, i was trying anything. I used more of other seasoning as well... fresh basil and parsley. I even added a carrot to try to get rid of some of the tartness. But it does seem like maybe i should have used more garlic. For a pot of sauce w/ canned tomatos i usually use about 6 large cloves and it comes out good. So i did the same this time....next time i'll try it your way.
I hope it works better for you next time. :)
Props to Frest on the stockbone suggestion. I threw in a few beef stockbones with a batch of sauce I made yesterday. It gave an incredible round yet tangy flavor - I love it! A very pizziaola flavor. Great tip!
i like a spicy sauce with some crushed red pepper! a little....BAM! just like emeril
i like oily sauces with chunks of garlic! and red sauces as long as they are fulla tomatos, garlic and mushrooms.
