Homemade Spaghetti Sauce



Put down the jarred spaghetti sauce—all you need is an hour and a handful of staple ingredients to make this classic pasta sauce right at home. Would you rather enjoy a bowl of pasta with a rich, beefy homemade tomato sauce laced with Parmesan and basil, or would you prefer mystery meat in a glass jar? I bet I know the answer. This spaghetti sauce is right at home in both casual and dressed-up meals, complete with all your favorite pasta side dishes. Trust me—this is the family-friendly pasta sauce you can rely on for weeknight dinners and dinner parties all year long.

What Is Spaghetti Sauce?

Spaghetti sauce is a rich, beefy tomato sauce flavored with Parmesan and basil. Don't mistake it for these popular tomato sauces:
— Bolognese sauce isn’t spaghetti sauce, and spaghetti sauce isn’t Bolognese. Bolognese is basically a glorified ragú—a long-simmered sauce that includes carrots and celery, red wine, beef stock, and milk.
— Marinara sauce is a little less involved, featuring crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, and basil. Cooked for under an hour, it’s less concentrated than sauces that have been stewing on the stove all afternoon.
— Pomodoro sauce is a quick-cooking fresh tomato sauce. Chopped fresh (not canned) tomatoes are briefly simmered with olive oil, garlic, and basil to preserve their bright flavor.

How To Make Spaghetti Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• Basil: I wanted the flavor of basil to permeate my sauce, so I used dried basil to infuse the olive oil at the start of cooking, then I called on fresh basil at the end in order to preserve its delicate flavor.
• Ground Beef: The ground beef provides ballast for the sauce, lending it richness and heft. I prefer 85 percent lean, as it offers an ideal mix of fat and flavor.
• Parmesan Rind: A small piece of Parmesan rind subtly boosts the sauce’s depth of flavor. It's not good eating, though, so remember to fish it out at the end of cooking.
• Tomatoes: You get the most pure tomato flavor from canned whole peeled tomatoes than from any other type of canned tomato, and I love the varied texture you get from crushing whole tomatoes by hand.
• Olive Oil & Butter: I like to use olive oil at the start of cooking to build flavor and to use butter at the end to give the sauce a velvety quality.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Let’s build some flavor. Grab a wooden spoon and a medium saucepan and start by cooking the aromatics (onion and garlic) and herbs in olive oil over medium heat until the mixture is very fragrant and the onion is softened and just beginning to brown (don't overdo it).

Let’s build some more flavor. Increase the heat, add the ground beef, and cook, breaking it up into small pieces, until it’s beginning to brown.

While the beef is cooking, empty the can of tomatoes into a large bowl and crush with your hands; I recommend wearing an apron for this, as things can get messy. Now pour the tomatoes into the saucepan and add my secret weapon—a piece of Parmesan rind. (The rind will subtly imbue the sauce with the savory superpowers only Parm possesses.) Bring the sauce to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the saucepan; there's tons of flavor in those browned bits. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly and reduced by about one-quarter; this should take 25 to 30 minutes. Now remove the Parm rind before you forget.

Let’s put some gloss on this sauce. Add butter, fresh basil, and some salt, and stir until the butter is melted. Now’s a good time to taste the sauce and add more salt if needed.

What’s spaghetti sauce without spaghetti! Notice that the sauce has enough texture to give you something to chew on and is thickened and glossy enough to cling to every last strand of pasta.

Full list of ingredients and directions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• The best tomatoes for spaghetti sauce: Canned whole peeled tomatoes are less processed than other canned tomatoes and they give you more control over what happens to them—lightly or coarsely crush, puree, leave whole, etc. Keep an eye out for brands like Sclafani, Mutti, and Bianco di Napoli, which use San Marzano tomatoes, the ne plus ultra of sauce tomatoes.
• What are some keys to a rich spaghetti sauce: (1) Simmering the sauce until it has thickened enough to look, well, saucy. A thin sauce tastes weak and slides off the pasta. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes longer if needed to concentrate the flavors. (2) Simmering the sauce with a Parmesan rind; it's like adding MSG—it just makes everything taste more lip-smackingly good. (3) Adding a little butter at the end to give the sauce more viscosity, so it lingers on your palate just a bit longer.

What To Serve With Spaghetti Sauce

You know what they say, when in RomeBensonhurst... You can't miss with garlic bread or garlic knots, Caesar salad, and/or shrimp scampi.

Storage

This sauce freezes beautifully. Allow it to cool, then scoop into freezer-proof containers and freeze up to 1 month. Defrost and reheat as desired.