On 6/15/2012 6:12 PM, Gary wrote:
> Cheryl wrote:
>>
>> On 6/14/2012 6:57 PM, Gary wrote:
>>
>>> Totally agree with you here, Steve. Years ago, I was anal about making
>>> spaghetti sauce all from scratch. Eventually I learned to buy cheap sauce
>>> and just enhance it. Just as darn good without some of the trouble. My
>>> sauce of choice is Hunts to start with. It's always cheap and I can doctor
>>> it up into a batch of great sauce.
>>
>> What's the hassle though? Plain tomato sauce/diced/chopped whatever is
>> so cheap and it doesn't take much time to cook it down, add your own
>> herbs to taste, sugar or no sugar, meat or no meat... it's endless what
>> you can do with canned tomatoes.
>
> Actually Cheryl, you are correct. I've learned to start with the Hunt's
> spaghetti sauce as a base then enhance the heck out of it. By the time I
> get done enhancing it, I really could have just started with a tomato sauce
> base. I guess it just "seems" easier starting with a "flavored tomato
> paste."
>
> I make a batch of 7-8 quarts of spaghetti sauce whenever i make it and I
> freeze most of it for future spaghetti meals and good for lasagna too.
>
> Here's just a quick rundown of what I add to the Hunt's sauce (several cans
> of it). This might not be complete but gives you an idea.
>
> Hunt's spaghetti sauce as the base then add in:
>
> - ground beast browned with lots of chopped onions, then drained
> - many fresh tomatoes, chopped in bite-size pieces
> - a few tablespoons of olive oil (one of the few times I use this)
> - lots of basil and some parsley, and some garlic (fresh, not powdered)
>
> I forget the rest until I make another batch but the end results are
> restaurant quality.
>

My buddy Steve mentioned it can be acidic if you use just tomatoes and
seasonings but a little pinch of baking soda can tone it down if you
need less acid.

I like you method. I usually leave the meat out of batches that I
freeze until I'm ready to use it. Actually for things like lasagna I
like to put a layer of meat between layers of pasta and layer the sauce
and cheese on rather than mix the meat with the sauce. But that's just me.