
Photo by me!
I have been doing this sauce for about 30 years, I know that once you make this you will also make it for years to come!
Amounts listed are only a guideline they do not have to be exact, if your pot will hold more then another can of crushed or dice tomatoes won’t hurt
There is a lot of prep work so start preparing a day in advance, you will need a HUGE pot for this, since you need a large amount of garlic, I suggest to make things easier purchase a jar of crushed garlic in the stores
One to two days in advance; brown Italian sausage meat, open all cans of tomatoes, drain the diced tomatoes place all the tomatoes in a huge bowl, chop the garlic, peel and dice onions and whatever you feel you can do a day ahead to save some time, refrigerate everything until ready to use
Start this sauce in the morning it will take about 1 hour or more until it gets to an even simmer and then needs to simmer for about 6 hours
The sauce needs two days or up to 5 days in the refrigerator to blend the flavors before it can be frozen
This sauce will only be as good as the tomatoes that you use, I suggest to purchase a good brand of Italian crushed and diced tomatoes it really will make a huge flavor difference, trust me I have used generic brands and the flavor was reduced
Don’t even think about using or freezing the sauce until it has been left for at least 2 days in the refrigerator to blend the flavors, the longer it is refrigerated the better the flavor will be!
To make this sauce go even further when ready to use combine with a jar of store bought pasta sauce, simmer for about 30 minutes on top of the stove, add in some meatballs if desired
Do not use ground beef, it will not be as good!
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds bulk spicy Italian sausage meat (can purchase links and remove the casings, you can use a little more than 2 pounds)
6 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
4 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, just partially drained
1 cup tomato paste (can just use a whole can)
olive oil, enough to generously coat the bottom of your pot, you will need a fair amount of oil)
5 medium onions, chopped
1/4 cup minced garlic (yes 1/4 cup!)
2-1/2 tablespoons dried oregano (rubbed between fingers to release the flavors, do the same with the basil)
2-1/2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon crushed chili flakes (make this as spicy as you like, I like lots of spice so I use 2 tablespoons or more and also use spicy Italian sausage meat)
3 large bay leaves
1 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons salt, or to taste (a good homemade pasta sauce needs a lot of salt, so don’t be shy with the salt!)
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS:————————————————-
Pour olive oil into the pot then heat over medium-high heat.
Add in chopped onions, dried oregano, dried basil, bay leaves and chili flakes; cook stirring for about 12 minutes or until softened.
Add in garlic; cook for about 3 minutes.
Add in tomato paste; cook stirring over medium heat until combined (about 2 minutes).
Add in wine and stir until combined.
Add in the browned sausage meat, mixing until combined.
Remove the pot from the heat or you will have the tomatoes bubbling all over.
Add in crushed tomatoes, drained diced tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of salt; using a large wooden spoon combine the tomatoes with sausage mixture.
Put the pot back on the stove, cover and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat stirring very frequently.
Once the sauce is simmering evenly (this may take about 1 hour) reduce heat to low and simmer partially covered for about 3 hours stirring occasionally and seasoning with more salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the lid and simmer uncovered on low heat for another 3 hours or more (spoon off any oil that has accumulated on the top of the sauce) yes this last cooking stage can be messy so keep a sponge near the stove to remove sauce splatters or use a splatter screen, it is important to cook the sauce uncovered for at last 3 hours or even more so that some water evaporates in the sauce, this will create a thicker richer sauce.
After the sauce has finished cooking, remove from heat and cool.
Place the pot in the refrigerator for at least 2 days or up to 5 days.
Ladle in plastic containers then freeze until needed.
Thaw the plastic containers refrigerator overnight or defrost in microwave.
You will also find this recipe on Recipezazz.com