Anyone have a spaghetti sauce recipe they love and wouldn't mind sharing? I hope to have enough tomatoes to put up some jars of sauce.
Never made it with fresh tomatoes, so some more research will be needed, but this is what I've been using as a basis for the last 40 or so years. It varies each time depending on what's on hand, but it's a good place to start.
Spaghetti & Meat Balls
Ingredients:
1 Sweet Yellow Onion
2 16 oz Cans Tomato Puree
1 16 oz Can Crushed Tomato
2 lbs. Ground Round
2 Slices Toasted Bread
1 Egg
2 Cloves Garlic
2 x 1 Tbs. Oregano
2 x 1 Tbs. Ground Black Pepper
2 x 1 Tsp. Salt
2 x 1 Tsp. Ground Basil
2 x 1 Tsp. Ground Sage
2 x 1 Tsp. Thyme
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
Directions:
We'll start with the meat balls. Put ground round in large mixing bowl and add toast torn into 1/4" x 1/4" chunks. Add egg and one teaspoon of oregano, black pepper, salt, basil, sage, and thyme. With two table knives (one in each hand), mix the meat ball ingredients by making a cross cutting motion through the mixture. Do this by overlapping the knives so that they make an "X" with the meat between the two blades and slide the knives apart toward the outside of the bowl. Continue mixing until the spices are distributed evenly and the toast is hard to see. You may wish to add a tablespoon or two of milk if the mixture becomes too dry.
In a four quart sauce pan, heat the olive oil until it starts to smoke. While you're waiting, form the meat mixture into balls about an inch and a half across. Brown the meat balls in the olive oil.
When all the meat balls are browned, add the tomato puree and crushed tomatoes to the sauce pan. Add the meat balls, onions and the remaining spices and crushed garlic cloves. Stir occasionally while you simmer covered for two to three hours. Longer is better.
Serve over your pasta of choice. If you're doing spaghetti, figure a one inch diameter bundle of pasta per serving. I like to get the water to a rolling boil and set the spaghetti upright in the center of the pot and then let go so it splays to all sides of the pot. As the lower portion softens all the pasta will drop into the water and you won't have to break it.
