Authentic Italian Sunday Sauce
Sunday sauce is an easy recipe. There are no "Italian" secrets. There are no tricks. The only important part of the process is using high-quality and fresh ingredients. Sauce tastes good when you use the right ingredients. A little time and patience are the only things required for my not-so-secret Sunday Sauce.
Servings: 10 people
Calories: 517kcal
Cost: $25
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 immersion blender or blender
Ingredients
- 8 cloves garlic, sliced
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 24 oz cans San Marzano peeled tomatoes
- 9 basil leaves
- 1-2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 10 homemade fried Italian meatballs, Par fried
- 6 Italian sausages (hot, sweet, or both)
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb pasta
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the garlic. Stir often for 1 minute. After 1 minute, add tomato paste away from the garlic. Allow the tomato paste to sit while you continue stirring the garlic for 1 more minute. Stir the garlic and tomato paste together to combine. Let the tomato paste begin to caramelize.
- Hand-crush 3 cans of San Marzano tomatoes into the pot. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Stir in half the basil and 1 teaspoon salt, and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Keep the sauce at a simmer and add your par-cooked meatballs and sausages. Allow the sauce to simmer on low for 3 hours, partially covered. Stir every 30 minutes to keep the sauce from sticking.
- Prepare your choice of pasta. Remove your meatballs and sausage. If you prefer a smoother sauce, now would be the time to pulse the sauce with an immersion blender. Stir in the remaining basil. Combine the sauce with the pasta in the pot you cooked the pasta in and serve with fresh grated Parmigiano.
Video
Notes
- The true secret to the not-so-secret Sunday sauce is time and patience. Tomatoes have to cook to taste good. These tomatoes you are using are (sort of) raw. They have to completely cook through.
- Stir often to make sure it's not burning to the bottom of the pot. I haven't seen wrath quite like my mom the time she asked me to stir the sauce while she was out and I forgot.
- Add salt to taste periodically. Sunday sauce will need more salt as it cooks. Just add a little bit at a time and taste to see how it is.
- When you add the tomato paste, you're letting it caramelize on the pan to release the flavors and break down some of the natural sugars.
- Don't add sugar. Cooking the sauce for a long period of time will balance out the acidity.
- Always finish with basil to get the final pop of flavor!
Nutrition
Calories: 517kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 1530mg | Potassium: 755mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 332IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 94mg | Iron: 4mg
