The Red Sauce

We had to deal a bit with Tropical Storm Isaac (nka Hurricane Isaac) Sunday and Monday ... Sunday was just wicked wind and rain. Power out at 8:30pm Sunday night. Thankfully, AFTER dinner and doing dishes AND posting the weekly menu plan. Power was restored on Monday at 8:00pm, thanks to Chain Electric Co. out of Kansas, I believe? 6 trucks and about 18 men ... woo hoo!


So, yeah, I'm taking the easy way out and re-posing a recipe ... it's what we had for dinner on Sunday ... Hubby wanted to get a big pot of it simmering on the stove but I couldn't find any italian sausage, but DID find a big bag of sauce already made ... I was pretty thrilled that I had it!

Hubby loves this stuff and swears it taste best the following day. Makes quite a bit, 14 cups or so AND I generally freeze in quart size bags for a quick defrosting dinner.   Nothing better than rooting around in the freezer and coming across a bag like this ... SCORE!

Make sure that you do this on a day where you have plenty of time to just putz around ... you want this to simmer for a good 4 to 5 hours for optimal texture and taste.

The original recipe was taken from a newspaper food article, Noodles Panini ... I still have the cut out clipping taped inside the spice cabinet ... whenever Hubby makes it he flips on the bay leaf...bay leaf phobia is very very hard to overcome, apparently. I have to sneak them in and THEN remind him that he needs to remove THREE leaves before eating (mine are small so I use 3). If we don't, it's guaranteed that he will get the bonus and gag. Nice, huh?

A side note? I am thankful in a roundabout way that my pantry no longer has THIS many cans of tomatoes ...



19 cans of diced tomatoes ... really.

Let's hop to it and get you a pot of sauce simmering!

About 2 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 lbs (or so) Italian sausage (I used 4 to 5 links, and slice through the casing, peel it off and break it up)
1 tsp oregano (dried)
1 tsp marjoram
1 large bay leaf (or 2 to 3 smaller ones)
6 oz tomato paste
3/4 cup water
About 90 ounces crushed tomatoes (3 large cans) ... I just buy one of them Costco sized tomato sauce cans, I think its' 105 ounces? because hubby doesn't do chunky cooked tomatoes)
salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup loose packed fresh basil, julienned (you know, sliced thin!)

Heat olive oil in LARGE pot. Add onions & garlic, saute for a minute or so to sweat. Then add sausage and cook til no longer pink, breaking up as you go.

Add the remaining ingredients except the fresh basil. Allow to simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.


Once the sauce hits the thickness you like, turn it off and let it cool down a bit. Take the basil (if you remember!) and stir them in to the pot ... honestly, I forgot 80% of the time and it's still pretty damn good without them.

Serve up with your favorite pasta. Freeze excess into serving portions your family uses. I freeze in gallon size bags but think next time I will do quart size ...

Enjoy!



Linking up with these GREAT blog hops ... go check them out!
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Comments

  1. That looks yummy! I love having sauce ready for last minute (or busy/lazy day) dinners!
    Glad the crew got your power back up and running!
    Thanks for sharing with my Super Link Party! :-)

    ReplyDelete

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