Cook: Mom's Spaghetti Sauce
Spaghetti is one of my favorite comfort foods. I never grew up eating the canned spaghetti sauce (until I was a poor college student) so I have high expectations of what spaghetti sauce should taste like. My mom always made her sauce from scratch and I use her recipe to this day. Making the sauce from scratch might seem intimidating but really, it’s pretty simple once you get all your ingredients together.
There are two ways you can make this. One is making it as a meat sauce with hamburger and sausage. The second way is to make it without meat and to add in meatballs later. It’s totally up to you.
Prep Time: 20 minutes, Total Time: 1 hour or more, depending on how long you want to simmer.
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
1 lb of ground hamburger and/or Italian sausage links (if you’re making a meat sauce version)
Good quality olive oil
4-5 garlic cloves (diced)
1 large white or yellow onion (diced)
2 large carrots (diced)
1 large green bell pepper (diced)
1 can tomato paste
1 can stewed tomatoes (I like the Italian flavored ones)
1 can tomato sauce
Any type of stock (this is not necessary but sometimes I like to add a little in depending on what flavor my sauce has taken on that day)
Oregano, dried parsley, dried basil - Italian seasoning works as well, garlic powder and bay leaves
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of coffee
Directions:
1. If you are making it with meat, the first step is to fry 1 lb of ground hamburger and a few Italian sausage links and put them aside. If you are making it without meat start with step 2.
2. Saute your garlic, onions, carrots and bell pepper in olive oil and add salt and pepper until everything is soft and fragrant.
3. Add tomato paste and an equal amount of beef broth (or water), stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce. You can alter these amounts depending on how many people you are planning to cook for. Add in your seasonings too. I don’t like to give amounts for seasonings because everyone has their beliefs as to what the sauce should taste like. I like to use oregano, dried parsley, dried basil, garlic powder and 2 bay leaves. For an umami boost, I also like to add a handful of sliced mushrooms. Season it with salt and pepper one more time. If you cooked your hamburger and sausage, add that back into the pot. Let this simmer on low for about an hour.
After the sauce has cooked, taste it! It’s most likely going to be pretty tart. To balance this out, add in 1-2 tbsp of brown sugar and around a half of cup of coffee. Trust me, it’ll make all the difference! Once you get it to your liking, let it simmer for about 30 more minutes.
This sauce tastes the best the next day. So once it cools, put it in the fridge and you have your homemade spaghetti sauce ready to go.
The main thing to remember is that you should make it how YOU like it to taste. These are merely guidelines to get it started. If you want it spicy, add some cayenne or Tabasco. If you want it to taste a little southern, add some New Mexico green chili powder. If you really want it umami, go ahead and add that fish sauce. You do you!
If you made the sauce without meat, click here to make 3 meat meatballs to go with your spaghetti sauce.
4. Serve over spaghetti noodles, add meatballs, fresh parsley and some parmesan cheese. Voila, you’ve got a meal that looks just like the spaghetti emoji.
