Cooking Goddess' Family Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

[Cooking Goddess]

1 t garlic powder
2 t crushed basil leaves
1 T crushed oregano leaves
1 1/2 t celery salt
1/2 t celery seed
1 t fresh-ground black pepper, or to taste (I use closer to 1 T)
1 onion, chopped
1 lbs ground chuck or ground round steak
12 oz can tomato paste
29 oz can tomato sauce, or pureed tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes, or dices tomatoes, or whole tomatoes broken up (I vary it depending on my mood)

Sweat chopped onion in enough water to cook till clear without burning. Add meat and brown (if you want to reduce the fat content of the sauce first cook your beef by your preferred method). Add all seasonings and mix into the meat. Add the tomato paste and sauce. (I rinse each can out with a little bit of water to get all the juices out and add that to the pot.) Simmer for at least 4-5 hours; longer is better. I've simmered mine for as long as eight hours.

If you want to remove even more fat refrigerate overnight, then skim hardened fat off the top of the sauce.

This sauce can also be used in lasagna. It freezes well.

* Feel free to make adjustments to your own preference, using this as a starting point. The original recipe called for sauteing the onions in butter, adding sugar to shorten the cooking time, using a 15 oz. can of sauce and a full can of water, and using double meat. The adjustments I've made over the years make it a leaner version with more depth of flavor. If you don't have the time to simmer for hours you can add up to a T of sugar at the start.

** If you want to make this a two-step process, you can precook the meat the day before and pre-measure all the spices. That way you're simmering the sauce in no time flat the next morning.

 

[vitauta]

1 t garlic powder
2 t crushed basil leaves
1 T crushed oregano leaves
1 1/2 t celery salt
1/2 t celery seed
1 t fresh-ground black pepper, or to taste (I use closer to 1 T)
1 onion, chopped
1 lbs ground chuck or ground round stea

12 oz can tomato paste
29 oz can tomato sauce, or pureed tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes, or dices tomatoes, or whole tomatoes broken up (I vary it depending on my mood)

Sweat chopped onion in enough water to cook till clear without burning. Add meat and brown (if you want to reduce the fat content of the sauce first cook your beef by your preferred method). Add all seasonings and mix into the meat. Add the tomato paste and sauce. (I rinse each can out with a little bit of water to get all the juices out and add that to the pot.) Simmer for at least 4-5 hours; longer is better. I've simmered mine for as long as eight hours.

If you want to remove even more fat refrigerate overnight, then skim hardened fat off the top of the sauce.

This sauce can also be used in lasagna. It freezes well.

* Feel free to make adjustments to your own preference, using this as a starting point. The original recipe called for sauteing the onions in butter, adding sugar to shorten the cooking time, using a 15 oz. can of sauce and a full can of water, and using double meat. The adjustments I've made over the years make it a leaner version with more depth of flavor. If you don't have the time to simmer for hours you can add up to a T of sugar at the start.

** If you want to make this a two-step process, you can precook the meat the day before and pre-measure all the spices. That way you're simmering the sauce in no time flat the next morning.

many thanks, cg! i hope you didn't miss out on any ballgame action or anything, by doing this. which kind of canned tomatoes do you prefer in your recipe, cg, any recommendations? i'm looking forward to making this special sauce, as soon as i can get my next grocery delivery on thursday.

what? no jar of emeril's needed for this?

 

[buckytom]

this does look good for a lasagna filling, cg. c&p'd as the "godesses' meat sauce".

interesting how you sweat your onions in water. i've never done that before. i'll have to give it a try.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

many thanks, cg! i hope you didn't miss out on any ballgame action or anything, by doing this. which kind of canned tomatoes do you prefer in your recipe, cg, any recommendations? i'm looking forward to makin g this special sauce, as soon as i can get my next grocery delivery on thursday.

what? no jar of emeril's needed for this?

I listen to my ballgames online - still a fan of my back-home team. Rarely watch baseball on *step out* TV because it *scratch* is so *tighten glove strap* darned slow.

Dear MIL always used Hunt's. Himself insisted I use Hunt's. As a newlywed saving for a house I used Contadina. We could tell right away - too acidic. Went back to Hunt's. I've also tried some other brand when making a pot roast (I suppose you'll want that recipe too? ), not Contadina, but it was the same acidic result. Remade THAT recipe with Hunt's and...you guessed it - winner.

I will sneak in San Marzano tomatoes now and then since they're the new "it" tomato and...Himself hasn't complained about acidic taste. Guess they would work too, but Hunt's are cheaper. And since I usually make spaghetti sauce in 8+ quart batches Hunt's it is!

 

[Addie]

I always have used imported tomatoes from Italy. I prefer whole and then I can break them up by hand. I think the acidic taste happens due to the time of year they are picked. When they are picked in the heat of the sumer sun, there is less acid. But then how would you know when they are picked. Also they now are useinn lined cans for acidic foods. That helps to cut the acid. They draw a tinny taste along with acid from unlined cans.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I like to use crushed, diced, puree, or whole tomatoes, as you get pure tomato flavor. Tomato sauce always includes seasonings, and usually some kind of peppers. Using the products that I use allows me to make the sauce taste the way I think it should taste. I add tomato paste to cut the acidity. If the sauce still has too much acidity, a minute pinch of baking soda will neutralize the acid. But I like that flavor, and so don't want to remove it completely. Also, if someone in your household objects to high acid tomatoes, there are many low-acid tomato products available. My brand of choice is De Fratelli.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[GotGarlic]

My MIL's tip for cutting acidity in lasagna sauce is to add a pinch of cinnamon. She got this from her Italian neighbor.

 

[bakechef]

Thanks for sharing!

I'll be sure to make this. I'll even use Hunts. You aren't the first person I've known to mention Hunts as their preferred tomato product, they seem to have a loyal following.

 

[MrsLMB]

Sounds delish .. thanks for sharing !

 

[pacanis]

When you simmer it is the lid on or off?
I make a much quicker sauce and don't use a lid so it thickens more quickly. But with your long simmering time I thought I'd ask.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Lid off pac. I try to trap the smell to reduce the tempting smells. Doesn't work though. Because I use thicker "liquids" and a fairly decent amount of meat the sauce is pretty thick when done.

After typing this recipe up I'm planning on making a large batch to freeze to use during the summer. When it's 70+ degrees I'm in no mood to smell this simmering for 8 hours!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

To avoid long simmering times, and get that same, wonderful flavor, I make the sauce in my pressure cooker. 20 minutes is the same as several hours worth of cooking. And once the PC is up to pressure, the heat is turned down to a slow simmer, just enough to maintain pressure. Since I prefer a little resistance in my ground beef, rather than meat-flavored mush, I don't add the browned meat until the sauce is done.

Another great approach is to make the sauce the night before you are going to use it. Put it in the fridge and allow to sit. The sauce is so much better that way, as the herbs and spices naturally distribute their flavors throughout the sauce. You always hear that pasta sauce is better the next day. It's true. And you don't have to simmer you sauce all day.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[vitauta]

thanks, chief!--and, a great summertime application. otherwise though, if there is time, i like to have a sauce cooking all day....

 

[pacanis]

I've never cooked a sauce all day. I'm looking forward to trying out not only a new recipe, but a new method.

 

[Andy M.]

I've never cooked a sauce all day. I'm looking forward to trying out not only a new recipe, but a new method.

When I make a "Sunday Ragu" with meatballs, sausages and meats, I simmer the sauce for two hours before adding the meat then for another hour and a half with the meat. During that cooking time there is a wood spoon under the lid.

 

[bakechef]

To avoid long simmering times, and get that same, wonderful flavor, I make the sauce in my pressure cooker. 20 minutes is the same as several hours worth of cooking. And once the PC is up to pressure, the heat is turned down to a slow simmer, just enough to maintain pressure. Since I prefer a little resistance in my ground beef, rather than meat-flavored mush, I don't add the browned meat until the sauce is done.

Another great approach is to make the sauce the night before you are going to use it. Put it in the fridge and allow to sit. The sauce is so much better that way, as the herbs and spices naturally distribute their flavors throughout the sauce. You always hear that pasta sauce is better the next day. It's true. And you don't have to simmer you sauce all day.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I always make my meatballs and sauce a day ahead if I can. They are good the first day, but after chilling in the fridge overnight, their flavor is at a whole new level!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

To avoid long simmering times, and get that same, wonderful flavor, I make the sauce in my pressure cooker

I'm sorry, but I think I heard my MIL roll over in her grave just a little! Mom was a big user of a pressure cooker and I know she never used it for her sauce - and she lived in Ft. Myers, FL the last 14 years of her life where it's almost always warm.

I had a pressure cooker when we were first married. Himself thought it would be a great thing since we both worked and needed quicker suppers when we got home. I never liked the thing. In addition to the fact that I was sure it would explode I really didn't like the flavor of things. I'm not really old (although the bod is challenging that fact today) but I am old-fashioned when I cook. However, if it works for you I certainly won't argue ~ different strokes for different folks.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I always make my meatballs and sauce a day ahead if I can. They are good the first day, but after chilling in the fridge overnight, their flavor is at a whole new level!

Same goes for soups, stews, all those good one-pot foods. During cold weather I'll have three burners going in a day with big pots of sauce (12-qt pot at least 2/3 full), soup (6-qt) and a stew (6-qt). But it has to be cold weather...because all the pots go into the garage when the food is done! I use our attached garage as my walk-in cooler. The next day I portion into meal sizes and freeze everything except the next three days worth of meals. I'm like Stouffer's! Although I wish sometimes that I lived near one of their factory outlet stores...

 

[vitauta]

need to bump, need recipe for easy reference

 

[Cooking Goddess]

It's not going to disappear vit! Four quick clicks to find it: 1) In the blue menu bar just below the logo header is an option "More Foods" When you put your pointer on it you'll see a drop-down menu appear with "Sauces & Marinades" the 7th choice down. Click and you'll get the sub-forum list - the recipe is in "sauces". Click "sauces" and (to use an old ad line) "it's in there"

Or...just keep bumping!