Maggie Monday: Spaghetti Sauce

For all the things that I make, I don’t regularly make spaghetti sauce from scratch. I don’t know why as it can be so great. I’m glad that Maggie has a good recipe I can use in the future…

We had a bunch of tomatoes from the garden that came ripe all at one. Of course. Spaghetti sauce was the logical choice. I’ve made sauce often, but never really paid attention to a recipe- I just throw together whatever I have. This time I decided to actually measure what I put in and write it down. (I don’t think the Ranting Chef would approve otherwise!)

I save the rind of Parmesan Cheese in a zip lock bag in the frig so I have chunks for spaghetti sauce. It really does add great flavor without making the sauce goopy with melted cheese. Just take the chunks out when you remove the bay leaves.

This sauce is sweet- if you prefer a less sweet sauce, simply sweat the onions and don’t caramelize them. I love the extra flavor of them being caramelized. You can reduce the brown sugar as well. But I love the sweetness this sauce has.

I usually make this meatless, but it is good with Italian sausage as well. Everyone eats this up- especially Picky Pants Daughter. Win.

Spaghetti Sauce

• 6 cups peeled and diced fresh tomatoes
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 2 Tbs chopped garlic
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 Tbs Italian herb blend (Penzy’s is my choice)
• 2tsp salt
• 1tsp ground black pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• Chunk of parmesan cheese rind if you have some
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2Tbs brown sugar

Directions

In a Dutch oven, sautee onions in oil until caramelized. Add the garlic and cook a minute or two. Add tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste and brown sugar; simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour. Discard bay leaves. Serve with spaghetti.