My Irish Grandmothers Italian Sauce

My grandmother loved to cook for her family. When she passed away we had to clean out get apartment and since no one in my family cooks my wife and I inherited all her kitchen things.

While cleaning out the kitchen we found in the freezer a Tupperware of her spaghetti sauce.

That week my wife and I had pasta and garlic bread with broccoli (which was also in my grandmother's fridge).

It was the last meal my grandmother cooked for me. That sauce has become very special to me. And I would like to share it with the Instructables community.

Step 1: Ingredients

1 yellow onion
several cloves of garlic
kosher salt to taste
pepper to taste
basil and/or oregano to taste
tomato puree (can use fresh tomatoes in addition or instead of)
hot or sweet Italian sausage (the not-so secrets ingredient)

Step 2: Prep

If using fresh basil wash and slice
dice onion
crush garlic cloves with side of knife
dice garlic

Step 3: Brown Sausage

Brown the sausage in a large stock pot.

Step 4: Sauté Onions and Garlic

add onion and garlic to pot stir till garlic begins to brown.

Step 5: Add Tomato

Add the tomatoes. Add some water as well.

Step 6: Stir and Season

Turn up the heat and stir in the basil, salt, and pepper.

Step 7: Slow Simmer

After the sauce comes to a boil stir well and turn down to a simmer.
Slow simmer for several hours. I've had better results covering it.

Step 8: Enjoy

Enjoy with your favorite pasta and favorite people.

Try it with:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Broccoli-a-La-Tony

Comments

[SimpleMikey]

Update: I made this for dinner last night, and as I suspected, this was a big hit with She Who Must Be Obeyed. I did have to interpret a bit, though. I decided I wanted a meat sauce, so after browning, I pulled one sausage out and chopped it fine while the onions and garlic were sauteing, then added it back when the tomato puree went in. I used two 28 oz. cans of puree, so I doubled the onion and garlic, as you suggested. I wound up with 8 cups of sauce, which we know from experience is enough for four dinners for the two of us. So, two cups and two sausages for dinner with vermicelli, and three containers in the freezer for future goodness. Very nice! I will be making this one again, but next time I will use two packages of sausage for a double recipe, and the extra sausages can go in each sauce container . . . a complete spaghetti dinner in each one . . . just add pasta!

[CyberJaws]

I'm so happy. My grandmother would be too. As stated in the intro I made this from taste and memory because my grandmother passed on the made sauce not the recipe.

I hope people will do as I do and read the comments. truly important when cooking from the internet.

Glad it came out. Thank you for your comments.

[SimpleMikey]

I haven't tried this yet, but it looks delicious! I plan to make it for dinner tomorrow.

A quick question: Your recipe is a little light on quantities, especially regarding the tomato. I see that you added one 28 oz. can of tomato puree, but I also see an empty can in the sink that may be the same. So, one can or two?

[CyberJaws]

I made this two nights in a row. The first night I used one can of tomato, the second I used two. Two cans made much sauce but I felt it tasted better in the smaller batch.

However my wife didn't notice a difference.

Go with your gut based on your tastes. But if you are going with two cans of tomato maybe double up the onion and garlic.

[SimpleMikey]

Thanks. That's just the sort of info I needed before exploring on my own. Miss Sally is excited about tomorrow night, partly because of the new recipe, and partly because she doesn't have to cook!