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Tasty Words: Dinner request resurrects grandfather’s sauce recipe

Photo courtesy of Lauren Kudlawiec / This recipe makes an entire gallon of meat sauce, so there will be some to freeze or give to a friend.

Unlike the typical Italian, I detested pasta sauce for a great deal of my childhood. I preferred buttered noodles to the traditional red sauce. My mom rarely made a separate meal for a picky eater, but she did heed my request for keeping some noodles aside just for me.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that I began to enjoy red sauce. Even though my Italian heritage comes from my dad’s family, my maternal grandfather’s sauce recipe has been my recent favorite. With herbs and cheese, it’s great for pasta, pizza, stromboli or lasagna.

Canned tomato sauce is one of the central ingredients, which is easy and afforable, especially when tomatoes are out of season.

I’ve experimented with fresh tomatoes, both the laborsome deseeding/blanching route, as well as blender puree method. However, sauce with fresh tomatoes just doesn’t seem flavorful enough to match the effort to make the sauce for me.

My husband, Bryan, frequently requests what he calls “meat sauce” for pasta. This past summer, using fresh herbs from my garden, I decided to use my grandfather’s recipe to craft a meat sauce that would meet Bryan’s expectations. That night, between dinner and a late night snack, we finished a whole pound of this pasta together.

Because this particular recipe makes an entire gallon, you will have some to freeze, give to a friend or keep in the fridge for next week’s meal.

Homemade Meat Sauce with Fresh Herbs

and Parmesan

Total Time: 45 minutes

Makes about 1 gallon of sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6-8 garlic cloves, minced

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 pound lean ground beef, preferably 93/7 fat ratio

1/2 pound lean ground turkey, preferably 93/7 fat ratio

1 teaspoon salt, divided, plus more to season to taste

1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided, plus more to season to taste

Three 29-ounce cans good quality plain, unseasoned tomato sauce, such as Hunt’s OR 12 cups fresh tomato puree (you may need additional salt if using puree to achieve flavor)

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon sugar

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onions and sauté until soft, about 4-5 minutes. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, beef, turkey, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and stir to combine. Sauté until meat is browned, about 5-7 minutes. Add the tomato sauce/puree and dried Italian seasoning. Stir to combine and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, stir in the fresh basil and parsley, parmesan cheese, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Taste and add additional salt and black pepper if desired. Remove from heat and serve over hot pasta or use as desired. If freezing, ladle into freezer-safecontainers and cool completely before topping with a lid.

Nutritional Information per 1/2 cup serving: Calories: 82; Total Fat: 3.4 grams; Saturated Fat: 1.2 grams; Sodium: 707.9 milligrams; Carbohydrates: 6.5 grams; Fiber: 1.6 grams; Sugar: 3.1 grams; Protein: 5.5 grams; Cholesterol: 15.0 milligrams.

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