Sunday Night Red Sauce with Perciatelli
This is my basic go-to red sauce. You can serve it and freeze the remaining sauce for a long while and then the next time you want to use it, you merely take it out in the morning and then you’ll have dinner for that night! Tonite I am making this sauce with Chicken Meatballs made from my Italian Wedding Soup Recipe and will serve with sauce and spaghetti. A perfect Sunday night meal if you’re cooking home. This is a great meal anytime and I love that I have a container or two frozen for another meal. Sauce should keep in the freezer for at least 3 months. It never makes it for that long since I use it pretty often especially when my family comes to visit.
INGREDIENTS:
1 whole onion –chopped
6 cloves garlic (average size; increase or decrease depending on size of cloves), peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 28oz cans of whole, peeled tomatoes with their juices (San Marzano type)– the whole tomatoes take a bit longer to break down so if you’re short on time or just don’t feel like using whole tomatoes use diced tomatoes in the 28 oz. sized can.
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
*red pepper flakes (also optional; I love the heat) if you like it Arrabiata style and I do you can 2 Teaspoons of Red Pepper Flakes but taste as you go
* Italian herbs (You can usually buy this in a jar. Spice Islands makes an excellent one–it’s a combo of oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, rosemary and sage. It’s a perfect blend of spices in a jar and saves a whole lot of time. This is also optional.)
*Teaspoon of sugar (also optional; I use it because it removes any acidic flavors)
* Red wine (optional but if you have it, use about 1/2 cup)
* Fresh basil (optional; you might not have on hand and it’s really okay without it but so fresh tasting with it. I actually had some in my herb pot and went out and cut some, but this certainly doesn’t always happen.)
Fresh grated parmesan cheese
You can use all of these spices or as many as you like at your own discretion. Season to your taste.
Pasta of your choice (This time I used Perciatelli. It’s thick and ropey and we love it.)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in as large a saucepan as you have. It needs to be fairly large. Add the chopped onion and garlic and continue cooking on a low flame for about 10 minutes until the garlic softens and onions are translucent but don’t burn the garlic or the onions. Add the 2 cans of tomatoes and their juice and if you have fresh basil, add a few leaves now. (A lot of the tomatoes already have basil in them.) Turn up the heat and bring the sauce to a boil. Then bring the heat down and simmer for about one hour, at the very least. I usually cook it for about 1 1/2 hours. Use the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes; continue stirring often and add as many herbs and seasonings as you like. Taste it for additional salt; throw in about a teaspoon of sugar; and if you have red wine, put in approximately 1/2 cup (and then you have my permission to drink the rest with dinner). Continue crushing down tomatoes and stir occasionally. It will thicken up and your house will smell like Italy or at least you’re favorite Italian Restaurant.
Cook pasta according to directions on the package.
I use about 8 oz pasta for the two of us
* Serves 4 as a main with 16 oz of pasta or 8 as a side dish
Sunday Night Red Sauce on Stove
Cooking with Candi 