Grandpa Joe's
Italian Tomato Sauce

This is my version of our family's traditional meat sauce for pasta.

About this recipe

My family's traditional Italian pasta sauce was always prepared with meat (usually Italian Meatballs or Braciole, or both).  I had to recreate this one.  No-one before me bothered (or needed!) to record the recipe.  Fortunately, I knew which ingredients they used.  I did choose to use tomato puree instead of fresh or canned tomatoes, however.  See my blog on tomato sauce (Tomato Sauce is King!) for my rationale for this.

Ingredients

  • 29 ounces tomato puree
  • 12 ounces tomato paste
  • 4 cups water
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 whole clove
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • Italian Meatballs

Directions

  1. Combine the puree, paste, water, herbs, and spices in a large sauce pan.  Cover, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, over low heat for 2 hours.  Stir every 30 minutes.  
  2. After two hours, taste the sauce and add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.  
  3. Add the Italian Meatballs (prepared separately) and when the sauce returns to a boil, simmer for an additional hour.
  4. Serve immediately over your favorite pasta (cooked in salted boiling water).
A double batch of Italian Tomato Sauce my way!

Notes

  • This sauce becomes even more complex if it is prepared with both meatballs and bracioli.  The bracioli, however, should be added to the sauce after 90 minutes to give them an additional 30 minutes to cook through.
  • When making multiple batches of this recipe, it is not necessary to use the same multiple for the meatballs or bracioli (unless, of course, you require more meatballs or bracioli).
Posted: January 2014.