A simple formula multiplies this sauce recipe to feed any size crowd
My husband Mike should have been born to a family in the rolling hills of Tuscany. He swoons over fresh ingredients, craves pasta and homemade sauce, slowly braised meats, cured salumi and delicately aged cheeses. Family dinners are his happy place - the planning, the shopping, the cooking, the gathering around to eat. He even enjoys cleaning up the kitchen afterward. It's weird and wonderful and affords me plenty of opportunity to indulge in long-simmering sauces and contented hours in the kitchen.
Unfortunately, Mike was born in northern Ontario, and we've both had to learn how to perfect his Italian cravings.
It is difficult to say with definitiveness what Mike's all-time favourite family meal is. But I can say with authority that Spaghetti has a firm standing in his top 5 Sunday favourites.
Homemade spaghetti sauce starts in the morning after breakfast, and while it doesn't need to simmer all day, it does seem to imbue the house with nostalgia and anticipation throughout the day. By supper hour, appetites are piqued and ravenous.
How many will be around the dinner table on Sunday is constantly changing. Some kids work, and some have been out too late the night before to make it to the table. Often, friends and partners join us; some evenings, it is just Mike and I sitting together with some spinning vinyl and an uncorked Chianti.
This recipe is perfect no matter how many dinner guests you have to please. It is a simple one-two formula easily multiplied (or divided) to fit the crowd. Every ingredient is either a multiple of one or two, so it's really easy to remember.
The formula
For every two cans of diced tomatoes, add:
One tablespoon of olive oil
One onion
One stalk of celery
Two cloves of garlic
One carrot
Two tablespoons of tomato paste
Two teaspoons of Italian seasoning (see recipe below for homemade blend)
One bay leaf
That's the base recipe. Two cans will make enough sauce to feed four people.
Add anything you like to the base - chopped mushrooms, bell pepper, roasted red pepper, or ground beef. A parmesan rind left to steep in the pot throughout cooking adds richness and umami. Fresh parsley is a must if you have it on hand.
A favourite in our home is to add meatballs to the simmering sauce partway through the day. I precook the meatballs in the oven to lock in their shape. The browning provided by the oven adds another layer of flavour as the meatballs swim around in the sauce for the afternoon.
The process
Good sauce is all about layering flavour. Go slowly and allow some cooking time between additions.
Begin by sauteing the onions in the oil until soft and caramelized; add the celery, garlic, carrots, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste one ingredient at a time.
Cook for a few minutes after adding the tomato paste.
Add the diced tomatoes.
Simmer until the veggies are all super tender.
Blend the whole thing with an immersion blender until very smooth (reminiscent of canned tomato sauce), or very carefully transfer it to a blender and puree in batches. Return it to the pot and continue the simmer.
Add the bay leaf - (remove this before serving - bay leaves should not be eaten. Make sure you don't blend them into the sauce)
Add a pinch of salt, but don't overdo it. As the sauce reduces throughout the day, it will become too salty if you have a heavy hand. I much prefer to salt at the end before serving.
Adding ground beef
I like my ground meat to be harmonious with the sauce, not presented as chunks of beef swimming in tomatoes. That is the role of meatballs. When I add ground beef to my spaghetti sauce, I brown it first in a saute pan; then, I add it to the sauce before blending.
Browning adds another depth of flavour.
Blending it with the sauce creates a rich sauce infused with beef. The texture and the flavour are lovely when you do it this way.
Simmer all Day
You don't have to simmer this sauce all day, but the longer it gently bubbles along, the richer and more flavourful it becomes. Let it simmer for as long as possible. You can't overcook this sauce, in my opinion. And isn't there just something so homey and heartwarming about stirring a pot of simmering sauce throughout the day? Pop it into a crockpot after you've blended it if you don't want to be bothered with attentiveness.
Suppose you are in a rush - this sauce is technically ready in about 30 minutes; you can use it right after blending. It won't be the same. It will be bright and lack the depth and richness created by long-simmering, but it will be good nonetheless. Of course, sometimes you want a bright sauce. In this case, a quickly cooked version is ideal.
Finishing the sauce before serving
Remove the bay leaf.
Tomatoes love an emulsifying hit of fat in the finish. Before serving, just when you turn off the heat - stir in some butter - about one tablespoon per can of tomatoes.
Taste the sauce for seasoning. If it tastes great, leave it alone. But it usually needs salt at this point. If the flavour is flat or something seems missing, add some salt. Start with ½ teaspoon only and add a little bit at a time until the flavour pops.
Tone down the acidity. If you find the sauce is too acidic, you can balance it by adding a smidge of sugar. One teaspoon per can of diced tomatoes is plenty. The longer this sauce has simmered, the less need there will be for the addition of sugar at all.
Store your leftovers
Finished spaghetti sauce freezes wonderfully and can be reheated easily on the stovetop, microwave, or crockpot when you need a fuss-free meal.
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce vs. store-bought
What I particularly appreciate about homemade sauce over store-bought sauce is your control of ingredients. Ready-made sauces are most often laden with sugar and sodium. Making your own sauce gives you the license to regulate these additions and provides a marvellous base for creating a signature meal of your own.
Imagine starting with a base recipe and fine-tuning it over the years to become a family recipe of your own to pass through the generations. It seems such a wholesome and old-world thing to do. It's just the sort of tradition you would expect from a family home kitchen. - Italian or otherwise.
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