Hellobee Boards

From fresh tomatoes or canned? Beyonce/Jay-Z Pasta is my go-to recipe for fresh tomato sauce (I only do this if I am REALLY craving it and have a ton of time on my hands: http://www.blogher.com/jay-z-beyonce-pasta-recipe-spaghetti-fresh-tomato-sauce-and-basil

For canned, I buy a big can of crushed tomatoes and a big can of tomato sauce, and a lb of ground meat (hubs only buys beef, but I've subbed in ground turkey without him knowing). Brown the meat, add in diced onions and garlic (a whole small/medium onion and about half a bulb of garlic... we love garlic). Drain the fat, add in the tomatoes. Add Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and Lawry's salt to taste. Toss in 2-3 bay leaves and let simmer. Remove the bay leaves before serving and chiffonade some basil. Oh! My MIL keeps the ends of her Parmigiano-Reggiano she gets from Costco and we toss in the chunks while the sauce is simmering for some extra cheesy flavor.

@lemondrop: Oh, I made this once and it was so good! But the hubs likes his sauce to be meaty, so we haven't had it since.

brown beef and garlic/onion, add can of crushed tomatoes, can of tomato paste, red wine, italian seasoning, let simmer 30 mins.

@HLK208: I save cheap red wine for sauces!

@HabesBabe: Oh I add meat to this one too! I brown and drain the meat, then follow the recipe and just cook it longer so it's thicker or add a can of tomato paste which thickens it too

@HLK208: I add garlic and some basil too, it's good no matter what you add to it! I can never go back to bottled sauce!

We used puréed tomatoes, canned are fine.

The less you do to a sauce, the better I think. I don't use anything beyond tomatoes, evoo, thinly sliced onion and salt.

If you're using canned tomatoes, try to find ones without calcium chloride. It's used to keep the tomatoes looking nice in the can, but prevents them from breaking down and getting saucy. I think you live in the same general area as me -- is there a Metropolitan Market close to you? They have a store brand and carry crushed tomatoes without it...I think some of the brands imported from Italy do, too. Unfortunately, I've found it nearly impossible to make good sauce with most canned tomatoes because of this.

@PurplePeony: oh that's a great tip!

We make one that is a runnier sauce that we love for certain applications. The key to that recipe is 3 kinds of meat. When there's money we do homemade meatballs, st louis ribs and a lamb shank.
It literally simmers, uncovered, for 4 hours to "thicken" the sauce.

DH begged a old co-worker for years. It was her Italian grandmother's family recipe. Her grandmother was first generation immigrant!