This is my basic spaghetti sauce recipe, and is definitely a favorite in my house. No one ever says they aren't in the mood for Spaghetti . I don't do an all day cook on this ,but about 3 hours since I'm using canned whole tomatoes, but the longer it cooks , the better ! I'm not gonna lie, I often times like it even more the next day after the leftovers have sat all night in the fridge and the flavors have even more chance to marry in the sauce!
A few things before I get into the recipe... I prefer to use specific brands of canned whole tomatoes for the reason being that I've found that when I buy certain store brand canned whole tomatoes , the juice they sit in can be runny. Which in turn can make your sauce a little thinner than you might want. I look for San Marzano canned tomatoes or specifically, Italian brands of whole canned tomatoes there are many to choose from. Now, depending how thick you like your sauce to be, you can go with 1 can of crushed tomatoes and 1 can of whole tomatoes. When I make Bolognese Sauce , I use crushed tomatoes with whole tomatoes. However, for this recipe, I use 2- 28oz cans of whole tomatoes and pour them into a large bowl and use my hands to squeeze the tomatoes ( in the sauce them come in) down till they are all smashed . It makes a nice consistency!
Alright, let's get this started!
Ingredients:
'5 links of Italian Sausage ( Mild, Sweet or Hot) It's your choice!
2 TBS EVOO ( Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
3 Large Cloves Garlic, finely minced
1/2 Cup Red Wine ( any type of dry red wine such as Merlot, Chianti, etc is just fine)
2 - 28oz cans of Whole Peeled Tomatoes, hand crushed in their own juice in a large bowl
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
1 pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 TBS Italian Flat Leaf Parsley finely chopped
1 TBS Basil finely chopped
Parmesan Rind
1 lb of Spaghetti
Approx 1 cup of fresh grated Parmesan for garnish
Serves approx 4- 5 people
In a large Dutch Oven or any deep pot, brown Italian sausage on medium low heat, 3 minutes per side and place on plate leaving any grease in the pot.
Add 2 TBS EVOO and saute garlic on low heat until fragrant. No more than 2 minutes.
Add Wine to the garlic and scrap up any browned bits in the bottom of the pot as it cooks down. Approx 5 minutes ( with lid off)
Once the wine has cooked down, add in the hand crushed tomatoes and their juice( carefully, so you don't splatter yourself) and stir together with the garlic. Then add in the Salt, Cracked Pepper , Red Pepper Flakes, Parsley and Basil and stir together.
Cut the Sausages into halves and add them back into the sauce. ( You don't have to cut them in half, but it definitely makes it easier to stir the sauce. That's how my Grandma did it, and that's how I do it.)
Let the sauce come up to a low boil and then turn down to simmer for 3 hours. Stirring about every 10 to 15 minutes so sauce doesn'Once you have about an hour left, add in Parm Rind into the pot and continue to stir every 10 - 15 minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Make sure to leave the lid of the pot slightly cracked so the sauce with condense a bit and thicken. DON'T FORGET to remove the Parm Rind before serving! It can make for an odd surprise if you or someone else bits into the rind, lol! Ask my daughter, Abby about that... totally my bad!
When it's almost done, go ahead and bring a large pot of water to boil and add a little bit of EVOO ( and a little salt if you want to) to the water before putting the spaghetti in. This will keep the pasta from sticking together. Cook according to package directions( until aldente)
Right before pasta is done, use a ladle to put some of the pasta water into the sauce. It helps to finish it off and " bind" it all together. Drain pasta and put into large bowl or pasta platter add about 4 cups or so to blend in some of the sauce. Sometimes I take the pasta out just before it's done cooking and put it directly into the pot of sauce ( after I remove the sausage) and let it finish in the sauce. It absorbs the flavor much better!
Serve up that pasta , add the sausage on the side and top with the Fresh Parm! Mangia Mangia!!