Spaghetti Sauce Recipe: Your Thoughts/Feedback/Suggestions

[jpinmaryland]

one of those color wheel sites (see under Indian food) also suggests that Umami is related to the sensation of heat. More stuff to think about...

 

[fritoman]

Good spag recipe

Sauté 1 large onion diced

1 red or green pepper diced

Heaping tablespoon minced garlic

25 slices pepperoni diced



Brown 1# lean ground meat of some type



Simmer ½ Gal tomato sauce

Quart whole tomatoes hand crushed

1 cup or so of tomato paste



Add Sautéed items

Browned meat

Tablespoon chicken soup base

Good dash of red hot

A good pinch of fennel seeds crushed

5-6 fresh chopped basil leaves (I keep mine in the freezer)

Handful of fresh parsley no stems or good shake of dry

Good shake of garlic powder

Just enough sugar to take away the bitterness of the tomatoes ( aprox. 1 T)

One cup of grated parmesan cheese (stir as you add to avoid clumping)



Cook till the noodles are done and enjoy!!!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

MLB; As to how thick your sauce should be with meatballs;

There are many who say that the pasta should be the primary flavor. Fo those people, a sauce with about the consistancy of tomato soup is preffered. The sauce is put over the pasta aparingly and folded in, just to accent the pasta. The meatballs are like a side dish that is also accented by the sauce.

For those that really enjoy the sauce, make it the consistancy of a bottle sauce. That is, reduce it by simmering out much of the water until the sauce is slightly thinner than ketchup. The sauce will then have a more pronounced flavor, without overpowering the meatballs or pasta. There sould be chunks of veggies discernable in the sauce, to give it texture and added appeal.

Make the sauce very thick, almost pasty for meatball sandwiches as the ratio of sauce to bread to meatballs is greatly reduced, and the sauce must be bold enough to not be overpowered by the bread and meatballs.

So what I am saying is to adjust the water content (thickness) based on the sauce purpose. For baked manicotti, make it thicker to stand up in flavor against the thick pasta flavor. For angel hair pasta, make it thick enough to adhere to the pasta, but thin enough not to overpower the other flavors.

You can only get this right through a bit of trial and error. We can give you tips, but you just have to make it and see what you like. My favorite consistancies proably won't be the same as yours, or you mother's, or you best freind's, etc. Find your own incredible sauce. Try different herbs and spices, different veggies, different cheeses.

I like parmesan or asiago cheese grated over my pasta. I know others who love ricotta, or even cottage cheese mixed into their sauce. I even know a person who blends Velveeta into her sauce. I think it makes her sauce taste like the stuff that comes out of a Franco-American can. Nothing wrong with that bnecause it's what she prefers. But it's certainly not made that way in my house. We are all different, with our own unique expectations. You will figure this out becasue you have the curiosity and desire to do so.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Mylegsbig]

MLB; As to how thick your sauce should be with meatballs;

There are many who say that the pasta should be the primary flavor. Fo those people, a sauce with about the consistancy of tomato soup is preffered. The sauce is put over the pasta aparingly and folded in, just to accent the pasta. The meatballs are like a side dish that is also accented by the sauce.

For those that really enjoy the sauce, make it the consistancy of a bottle sauce. That is, reduce it by simmering out much of the water until the sauce is slightly thinner than ketchup. The sauce will then have a more pronounced flavor, without overpowering the meatballs or pasta. There sould be chunks of veggies discernable in the sauce, to give it texture and added appeal.

Make the sauce very thick, almost pasty for meatball sandwiches as the ratio of sauce to bread to meatballs is greatly reduced, and the sauce must be bold enough to not be overpowered by the bread and meatballs.

So what I am saying is to adjust the water content (thickness) based on the sauce purpose. For baked manicotti, make it thicker to stand up in flavor against the thick pasta flavor. For angel hair pasta, make it thick enough to adhere to the pasta, but thin enough not to overpower the other flavors.

You can only get this right through a bit of trial and error. We can give you tips, but you just have to make it and see what you like. My favorite consistancies proably won't be the same as yours, or you mother's, or you best freind's, etc. Find your own incredible sauce. Try different herbs and spices, different veggies, different cheeses.

I like parmesan or asiago cheese grated over my pasta. I know others who love ricotta, or even cottage cheese mixed into their sauce. I even know a person who blends Velveeta into her sauce. I think it makes her sauce taste like the stuff that comes out of a Franco-American can. Nothing wrong with that bnecause it's what she prefers. But it's certainly not made that way in my house. We are all different, with our own unique expectations. You will figure this out becasue you have the curiosity and desire to do so.


Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

thanks for the info!!!!!! good stuff

 

[jennyema]

one of those color wheel sites (see under Indian food) also suggests that Umami is related to the sensation of heat. More stuff to think about...

that seems really strange. Which one?

 

[eric]

So what I am saying is to adjust the water content (thickness) based on the sauce purpose. For baked manicotti, make it thicker to stand up in flavor against

Goodweed has a "goodpoint". If you go to the store, you'll notice at least 30 different kinds of pasta. There are even more than that. Each one, no, make that, each group of like pastas will take a different kind of sauce.

So it really depends on what type of pasta you will be using.

BTW, I often make fresh pasta in my cooking classes when I feel as if we don't have enough starch to eat with a meal (like in dessert classes). They are always asking me "is that all there is to it?" Its quite easy and if you like to work with flour, you should give it a try.

 

[jpinmaryland]

Jenny: I cant find the original site, but this one talks about the chinese flavor hot being replaced in Jap. by unami. Not exactly the same, wish I could find the orginal, but in any case that doesnt appear to be the correct category..

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/brightfield/mammaltastebudslow.html

 

[Lauklejs]

There had been a post in this thread which contained some misinformation about sharp cheese and about pineapple and (not sure). It's now missing as far as I can tell; she may have withdrawn it. This poster thought that the soreness in her mouth was from acid in sharp cheese (in her case a very sharp swiss). She thought that pineapple's bromelain also caused soreness. Of course as someone may have informed her, there is almost no acid in cheese--an orange contains a hundred times more. However, the soreness caused by these two foods and also bananas in particular are due to the presence of compounds that stimulate smooth muscle. These primarily vasoactive substances can spasm the blood vessels and cause hypoxia or they can spasm minute smooth muscles in the papillae of your tongue. The hypoxia in both instances feels sore. In sharp cheese the substances seem to be either tyramine or tyramine like. In pineapples and bananas (and many fruits occasionally), the substance is ethylene dioxide--the natural gas that can be used as a vet anesthetic that produce sellers pump in at the last minute to complete ripening. I know firsthand about ethylene dioxide--having worked next to ananimal experiment that used ethylene dioxide to protect the animals and had wondered for a week why my tongue was sore. Just wanted a correct post in case someone else googles "sharp cheese".

 

[Constance]

I usually start with a good jarred spaghetti and add half sweet Italian sausage and half ground chuck, then go from there with the seasonings.
But last summer, I made some wonderful oven-roasted tomato sauce out of the Roma tomatoes from my garden. I'm sure I posted the recipe here someplace.

Basically, you cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds with your fingers. Lay out on a foil covered baking sheet, add salt, pepper, dried oregano, and minced garlic. Sprinkle olive oil over the top and roast in your oven at 200 degrees or lower for hours...until they are shriveled. You can freeze them like that, but I put them through the juicer/strainer on my KA. I ran pulp through 3 times, to make sure I got all of the goody out of it, then froze the sauce in ziplocks in the freezer.

I made spaghetti from it a few weeks ago, adding some of our sweet Italian venison sausage and lean ground chuck, plus mushrooms and sliced black olives.
Once my sauce is cooked, I add the pasta to it in a large bowl (I cook my sauce in the nuke, so I don't have to stand and stir it), along with a little of the pasta water if I need more juice. I either cover it and let it stand a bit, or nuke it (covered with wax paper) for a couple of minutes.
I serve it with peels or shreds of parmesan and crusty bread.

The flavor is outstanding.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

My thanks to you, Lauklejs. I did think it was the acidity of the Swiss Cheese. But I have to ask, where does the sour componant come from in cheddars, colbys and other cheeses. Also, a cousin to cheese is sour cream, and yogurt. And I know that baking soda reacts with these products to produce Co2. Also, isn't it the acid reacting with the dairy protiens that produce the cheese curd? And of course, we know that the micro-organizms that feed on the milk sugars produce acids as a by-product to their metabolizm, which is what reacts with the protien and creates the curds.

I can believe that the acids in cheese may not produce sores on the toungue, and that the same may be true of pineapple. But I have to disagree when told that cheese has low acitity. It is by its nature, acidic. And the longer it is aged, the less sugars it contains, and the more acid, just as with a good sour dough starter (there's that sour componant again).

I'm not trying to be flippant, and hope that this post isn't taken as such. I am arguing a point. And I really am saying thanks to the info about teh tyrimine and ethylene dioxide. I didn't know that bit of food chemistry. And I also agree that you may be completely correct about the causal and effect relationships. I just think you're wrong about the acid content. But again, it is an educated assumption on my part.

And Goodweed of the North is a guy

Seeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[tats802]

I am Italian and I learned from my Mom and my Mom's best friend. You always begin w/sliced onions and crushed garlic. Heat Olive Oil in the pan, saute' your onions, then add your garlic towards the end. I NEVER use crushed tomatoes, if I do, I ALWAYS put them in a foley mill. The skins and seeds make the sauce bitter, I NEVER put skins and seeds in and those are in crushed tomates. I also do NOT use a blender as the bittrness is still in there. I no longer use tomate paste either as that makes it bitter as well. I add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic. When the sauce begins to bubble, I add, fresh or dried Basil, Italian Seasoning, Salt, Pepper. After the sauce cooks for a while, I add, grated cheese, some sugar, red wine and I always let the sauce cook for at least 4 hours. I put the meat in if I'm using meatballs and/or sausage, in then let it cook, the meat will flavor your sauce wonderfully. The longer it cooks, the better it tastes. Even one better, cook it, let it sit, cool, put in the fridge overnight and cook again the next day, it's wonderful.

 

[auntdot]

I agree with the wisdom above.

Always now use canned tomatoes. Our garden is too small to grow enough fresh tomatoes for a sauce. Have a number of farm stands about, but we have gone to the canned stuff, it is easier.

We make a large batch, and have large pots.

What we like to do is put a cheap piece of pork from the shoulder, you want a fatty cut here not the loin, in the sauce as it simmers. We just sear the outside before we place it in the sauce.

It gives the gravy a lovely flavor and you can then slice the pork roast and serve it with the pasta.

Or use it in other ways.

The pork gives the sauce a very nice flavor and the sauce gives a wonderful taste to the pork.

Just our approach, God bless.

 

[buckytom]

i absolutely love pork and veal in sugo/tomato sauce.

for pork, i usually use boneless pork rib ends. i prefer to use bone in but have had a few bad experiences with people eating bone shards.

for veal, i use shoulder chops, regular and round bone.

 

[Alix]

buckytom, you have a particular recipe? Or do you just wing it?

 

[buckytom]

alix, i've been meaning to write down exact amounts the next couple of times i make sauces. i usually wing it, er, i mean go with an experienced hand. (that sounds so much better. )

there's the standard sogo di pomodoro (just tomatoes, evoo, garlic and onions), and then lots of variations that build upon that, with different meats, fishes, and veggies. fra diavolo, garden veggies, veal and peppers, meatballs and sausages, pork sauce, pizza sauce, gahlic-gahlic-gahlic, cioppino style, sunday gravy (lots of meats and veggies, red wine)etc..

 

[Alix]

For an Irish boy you sure do talk good Italian food! Make sure you let me know when you post some of those sauce recipes. (I'm big on the wing it end of things too so you don't need to be TOO specific)

What is sunday gravy BTW?

 

[buckytom]

sunday gravy is just what it's name says. it is a long simmered pot of tomato sauce that is made on sunday morning thru the afternoon, for an early family supper.

every family probably has their own recipe, but for me, it usually includes pork and veal chunks, meatballs, pork sausages, red wine, onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and whatever other meats or veggies are around.

 

[Andy M.]

sunday gravy is just what it's name says. it is a long simmered pot of tomato sauce that is made on sunday morning thru the afternoon, for an early family supper.

every family probably has their own recipe, but for me, it usually includes pork and veal chunks, meatballs, pork sausages, red wine, onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and whatever other meats or veggies are around.

BT:

Have you ever added pork bones to a Sunday gravy?

 

[Dina]

Tats802,
Your sauce sounds similar to mine. Have you tried roasting the onions and garlic before adding it in the sauce? It's awsome! I sautee onions for EVERYTHING then add the fresh garlic towards the end. If garlic is overcooked, it turns bitter. I'm sure you know that. This is the key to making food taste great. I boil the fresh tomatoes to get rid of the peel and take out as many seeds possible. I add a bit of light corn syrup to diminish the acidity and of course, add the herbs and 95% lean ground beef and a bit of ground Italian sausage.

 

[buckytom]

BT:

Have you ever added pork bones to a Sunday gravy?

andy, i usually use pork rib ends which contain some bones. same goes for the veal shoulder chops. the meat is cut into large chunks before all of it is browned and added to the sauce, bones included. i like to cut the meat away first, so i can remove the bones when it's finished cooking so no one gets a nasty surprise in their dish.
the round bone veal shoulder chops have a nice chunk of marrow in them that i go for first, smearing the marrow on a piece of warm crusty italian bread, dripping with butter and tomato sauce.
the house could be burning down around me, but for that minute, i wouldn't know or care.

i recently started saving veal, pork and beef bones, and their fat too, to make stocks, and to add to dishes for flavor.
unfortunately, dw went through the dwonstairs fridge recently and tossed out "all of that crap" that i was saving in the freezer.