My mom has made a “spaghetti sauce” (or “red sauce,” as my husband calls it) for as long as I can remember. The smell of it as it cooks, collecting in stairwells and pockets around the house, immediately makes any place smell like home to me. So when she flew out to visit a few weeks after the arrival of our first child, and asked what she should make for dinner, it was the obvious choice.
(Okay, it was a bit more complicated than that: She offered to make dinner (yes! thank you! I’m so tired I can barely mash buttons on my phone to get take-out), and then asked what we’d like (I have no idea! I’m so tired I can barely mash buttons on my phone to get take-out). Once she thought of it, though, this was clearly perfect: delicious, easy, and freezes well so we can keep eating it after she left.)
I’ve since gotten the recipe from her, and after 4 years (how is my son already 4?? 😭), finally tried making it for myself. I’m reposting it here to note her annotations on the original, which began life as a recipe from Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Cookbook, has been tweaked enough to be its own entity.
PrintMom’s Red Sauce
My household’s version of the iconic marinara or “red sauce.” Easy to do; easy to freeze; completely delicious!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 dinners' worth 1x
Ingredients
- 1 large onion (~2 C chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed or pressed or whatever
- 3 T olive oil
- 1 28-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes (see note)
- 1 6-oz. can tomato paste
- 1 C dry red wine
- 2 C water or veggie broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/4 t freshly-ground pepper
- 1/2 t dried oregano
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until brown, stirring often. (Mom’s note: “The idea is to get a good sauté without excessive browning — just enough to bring out the flavor.”)
- While that’s going, I like to prep the rest of the ingredients in a bowl:
- Tomatoes, breaking them up with your hands as you go, as well as their juices;
- Tomato paste;
- Wine (and while you’re at it, pour yourself a glass — it would be a shame to waste the rest of that bottle!);
- Water or broth;
- Bay leaf;
- S&P.
- Once the onions are nicely sautéed but not overly brown, dump in your bowlful of tomato stuff.
- Simmer uncovered for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed (I haven’t had to add water yet, but if you simmered too high, I could see that this might be necessary). After about 30 minutes you can cover it if you want. Especially if you leave it uncovered, make sure it’s on pretty low, and scrape the bottom of the pan every now and then to prevent sticking.
- Add crushed oregano. Cook for an additional 15 minutes.
- Remove the bay leaf and serve!!
Notes
You can basically use any kind of tomatoes, here: Canned in any variety (“except stewed,” notes Mom). I’ve defaulted to whole peeled, and prefer San Marzano brand. Fresh would work, as would diced (which I think is what Mom always used).
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