Spaghetti Sauce Recipe: Your Thoughts/Feedback/Suggestions

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I always rehydrate dried mushrooms. And I have yet to find any that didn't have some grit left behind at the bottom of the liquid. :angel:

I've heard that before Addie, but after many many times of re hydrating them I've found just the opposite to be true, however I order only grade A porchini's on line.
 
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I always rehydrate dried mushrooms. And I have yet to find any that didn't have some grit left behind at the bottom of the liquid. :angel:


I used to rehydrate and filter the water all the time to avoid any sediment. Then I tried just breaking up the dry mushrooms and tossing them in the sauce. I never had a hint of grit in my food. If I did, I'd stop the practice at once.

Your assumption is that the sediment is dirt. It would be logical to assume it's mushroom powder rubbed off the larger pieces during production, packaging and handling.
 
^^^ possibly some spores the mushrooms dropped during harvest/processing.

My pasta sauce starts with a slow sweat of even 1/4" diced yellow onion, paper-thin garlic slices, fennel seed, black pepper, salt, 1 bay leaf, crushed red pepper, dried thyme, dried oregano, and a good amount of EVOO. Once sweated and the onions are mostly not crunchy anymore, I add in some cans of Escalon 6-in-1 crushed (the best) or Classico crushed tomatoes. I let it simmer for 25 minutes with the lid off, stirring every 5-10 minutes. I don't prefer to cook it more than 25 minutes but it's really only done when the onion in the sauce is just the right texture; not mushy but absolutely no crunch, which is why an even 1/4" dice is crucial to start. When there's about 5 minutes left I add in hand-torn fresh basil and let it finish simmering. Once done simmering I pull it from the stove, remove the bay leaf, and put the stick blender to it until it's the right texture, finally stirring in a basil chiffonade at the very end for aesthetics and a little extra flavor.

The end result is what I consider perfect. When you're done eating your bowl of pasta there's a very light orange hue left on the bottom of the dish and that's, to me, the hallmark of a great pasta sauce. You can taste each ingredient separately and yet they are harmonious at the same time, like tasting a good jazz recording.

Note: I left out a couple of my secret ingredients. It's taken me a while of constant testing and tinkering, giving out jars to people to get feedback, etc. to arrive at this recipe. I did it with no base recipe to start, and I'm proud of my marinara. So that said, I'd like to keep the full recipe "mine."

I still have to try adding a small amount of Marmite to it; I think the umami factor would be great.
 
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