One of our weekly go to meals is pasta night. Which is then followed by pizza night, using leftover pasta sauce.
When we were first married, I tried to make pasta sauce “from scratch”. It was terrible. So I called my mom and got her recipe. I still couldn’t get to taste right. I gave up, and resorted to purchasing overpriced cans of flavored tomato product pasta sauce.
One day a came across a recipe that said it was guaranteed to produce the perfect sauce every time. I tried it, it was so crazy simple, and we liked it! Of course after trying I had to tweek it, and make it our own. Now, I think it is way better, and still crazy easy.
We love the sauce: plain, with meat balls, with homemade pork Italian sausage, on pizza, to dip for Pao Bread, over pasta, over zoodles, over carrot noodles, you get the point, it is the best all-purpose pasta sauce.
This sauce makes a big batch, about enough for the month, like I said we have it weekly. I like to do it in the crock pot, and my small one (4 quart) is the perfect size for it. The sauce freezes perfectly, and will last “indefinitely” according to the USDA. Be ware that the longer you store it the quality will go down. ALWAYS, always follow good food safety guidelines. The USDA has a great resource here.
There are two ways you can make this, on the stove (quicker, but it will need more attention) or in a crock-pot (dump and go, it’s a no brainer). If we don’t count individual cans, this recipe has a 10 ingredients. Gather them up and a can opener, cause it is Pasta Night!
You will need two onions, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, cracked black pepper, 4-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes (or two 28 oz cans), one 28 oz can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (not sauce), 12 oz tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and fresh basil (or dry).
Turn your crock pot onto low, and add a good layer of EVOO to the bottom (about 1/4 cup). Slice up your onions, now they don’t need to be sliced pretty or even, and throw that in. Add the garlic, about 2 tablespoons, maybe 3 whole cloves. I stopped buying whole garlic, cause I can’t stand the smell on my hands for the whole day, so I get the jar of minced garlic. Add the rest of the spices, a generous mounded tablespoon of sea salt, a mounded teaspoon of cracked pepper (not ground black pepper), 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, and 12 fresh leaves of basil, or about 1 teaspoon dry basil. Give it all a stir and add the cans of diced tomatoes, tomato puree and tomato paste.
Let this cook for about 6 hours, stirring occasionally if you are home. I like to crack the lid of the crock-pot about halfway through so some of the liquid will evaporate off.
This will give you a chunky sauce or you can puree it all up with a stick blender or in a blender. Be careful, the sauce will be HOT! We tend to like it thick, so I puree it and the simmer it a little longer on high with the lid cracked.
Freeze extra in quart size zipper bags. Lay them flat in the freezer and they will defrost quickly! I put about 2.5 cups of sauce in a bag to freeze and get about 4 bags of sauce.
- 2 small onions, sliced
- ¼ c extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or whole
- 1 heaping Tablespoon salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 12 leaves fresh basil (or dry about 1 tsp)
- 4-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes (or two 28 oz cans)
- 1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (not sauce)
- 12 oz tomato paste
- Turn your crock pot onto low, and add a good layer of EVOO to the bottom (about ¼ cup).
- Add in the onions, garlic, and spices.
- Stir and add the remain cans of tomatoes and tomato paste.
- Cook for about 6 hours, stirring occasionally.
- If you like a chunky sauce serve as is.
- For a uniform texture, you can puree it all up with a stick blender or in a blender. Be careful, the sauce will be HOT!
Add the EVOO and heat until shimmery, add the onions and cook until translucent.
Add the garlic and spices and stir until fragrant, add in the tomatoes and tomato paste. *add in the fresh basil after the tomatoes*
Simmer on low for about an hour.