Ever Made Spaghetti Sauce?

[ReneeW]

Have you ever made your own spaghetti sauce? If so, what did you do? My mom dropped off a bunch of tomatoes from her garden before going out of town and basically told me to puree them in a blender, add some onions, bell pepper, and basil if desired, and simmer for 8 hours or until it reduces by 1/3 or 1/2. She's incommunicado so I can't follow up and ask -- how much? Should I add salt and pepper? I'm afraid it will be bland.

What I did was saute some onion, garlic, and bell pepper and then I seasoned it and added some oregano and basil. My plan is to taste it after 7 hours and then add more spices/veggies if the flavor needs to be ramped up.

If anyone else has any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

[nevaehsmom327]

YESSSS

She's got the right idea. If you like a chunky sauce you could just chop some up into big chunks. I also LOOOVE to add some nice red wine to mine to give it a little extra flavor. Doesn't have to be fancy, I usually grab a cheap Cab or Sauvignon.
Onions, bell peppers, garlic, basil are all great things to add in. The best part about making your own sauce is you can add whatever YOU want. The flavors YOU like. Salt and pepper, of course!

[cakemakermom]

Here's my mom's sauce and in my opinion, the best recipe:
1 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced or 1/2 tsp powder
8 pounds tomatoes
1 medium onion, yellow, minced
1 tsp celery seed
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp pepper
dash red pepper
1 tbsp italian spices
1/2 cup sugar (I'm not sure the exact measurement of this ingredient, mom forgot to put in in her ingredient list)

*1 can tomato paste
*1 pound ground beef

Boil a pot of water. Wash tomatoes, drop into boiling water for 30 seconds. Place tomatoes into ice water to cool. Peel skins off tomatoes. Remove cores, quarter tomatoes, place in blender and blend until smooth.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine tomatoes, chopped onion, celery seed, garlic, oregano, pepper and red pepper. Bring to a boil, cook 40 to 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add white vinegar and sugar to tomato puree, stir until blended.

Pour into glass jars and seal. Serves 6 for large jars.

*Just before serving, brown ground beef, drain and add to tomato sauce. Add tomato paste and cook until desired thickness. Serve over noodles.

[angel22]

I always (ok, almost always) make my own sauce. I take my tomatos and boil them until the skins just start to split then I blend them (whole) with some peppers and onions (or just seasonings) and can it all so that I have it on hand. When I go to make it I just add seasonings until I think it'll taste good- I add onion powder, garlic powder, brown sugar, and what ever else I have on hand that I think will taste yummy. Oh yeah, and I add in browned hamburger as well. We eat ours smoothe (aside from the meat) because DH is super picky and can't stand chunks of anything in his sauce.

[sarahisis]

a can of tomato paste will thicken it up just a bit too....
and also, add a little sugar, it'll help with the acidity.

salt, pepper, oregano or italian seasoning... onion powder....a little bit of garlic

and I agree with the wine.. it gives it a little kick or you can try cooking wine.

[elizac]

mine is very simple, tomatoes (have to be very good), salt, pepper and basil. I might add cream or Parmesan cheese before we eat. I don't stew it long -- maybe 20 minutes or even less.