Homemade Red Sauce-With Meat #156

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Homemade Red Sauce-With Meat #156

Over the years, I have made many versions of red sauce. As my career blossomed to include interviewing top chefs from around the world, I have fine-tuned the recipe more than 156 times!

Just like with wine where you need great grapes, using authentic San Marzano tomatoes makes a big difference in taste. I usually use Cento brand. Currently both Walmart and Target have been discounting this product to around $3.49, which is about $1.50 less than small shops.

Careful! Cento also sells canned tomatoes from California. These are not San Marzano Certified from Italy. 

Serves: 6-8 people

Prep & cooking: 2 hours

Ingredients:

2-28OZ Cans of San Marzano Certified Peeled Tomatoes

1-Whole Yellow Onion chopped finely

¼ -Cup of Olive Oil

2-Carrots peeled and chopped

2- Teaspoons of fresh or frozen Basil

4- Garlic Cloves

3-Bay Leaves

1-Teaspon Italian Herbs Seasoning Mix

1-Tablespoon of Tomato Paste

1½- teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon finely chopped Italian Parsley

1-Teaspoon of ground pepper

1-Cup of Good White Wine  

1-Cup of water

1-Cup of Chicken Stock

Procedure:

·      •Heat olive oil in 4 quart pot

·      •Sauté and sweat onions for 15 minutes, be careful to control heat so the onions do not get burnt

·      •Add garlic and chopped carrots and sauté for 5 minutes

·      •Open tomato cans, remove tomatoes and use a spoon to remove most of the seeds over a colander that is placed above a bowl to capture tomato juice.

·      •Add tomatoes and remaining juice into pot

·      •Add basil, bay leaves Italian Herbs, Salt, Pepper, Tomato Paste, Parsley, White Wine, Water and Chicken Stock

·      •Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes
•   •Cool down sauce and remove and discard bay leaves. When mixture cools down (30 minutes) place in food processor with chopping blade and Purée for 5 minutes.

•Put mixture back into pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Vegetarians/ Vegans:

You are ready to serve this sauce over your favorite pasta.

Meat Lovers:

Add uncooked meatballs and cooked sausage into sauce and cook for 20 minutes at medium heat before serving. The meat will add a hearty flavor to the sauce.

Seafood Lovers:

Add peeled and deveined shrimp, Scallops or lobster, turn-up heat to near boiling for 12 minutes. For spicy sauce lovers add two teaspoons of Tabasco and a teaspoon of crushed red peppers. Mix into sauce for two minutes with a wooden spoon.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as my family and I do!

Note about wine: While many folks like to cook with red wine, I use white wine instead because it is less acidic.

For wine suggestions visit VinoTasting.Com