The Best Homemade Italian Spaghetti Sauce

You all know how much I love cooking from scratch.  Everything just tastes better and I love knowing exactly what ingredients are in the food we eat.  On top of that, having a child with an allergy makes it especially important to cook from scratch to prevent any contamination.  The past times we’ve made spaghetti, we’ve been making the sauce from scratch.  It’s much easier and tastier than you’d think!  You can even throw in some cooked ground beef to beef it up a little.  On top of a yummy sauce, your house will smell absolutely fantastic!

Here’s how we make it:

Ingredients: 

• 3-4 cans of Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz. sized cans) OR 12-15 fresh tomatoes
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• Fresh Basil -4-6 Tbsp or dried basil (3-5 Tbsp)
• 1 ½ tsp. Black pepper
• 1 TBSP of Sugar (optional – I normally leave this out)
• 2 TSBP olive oil
• 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese

Directions: 

• Heat the olive oil in a 5+ qt. pot over medium heat and add the minced garlic.
• Heat for one to two minutes, making sure not to burn the garlic.
• Add all the tomatoes, black pepper, basil and optional sugar.
• Stir often and bring to a low boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring often.
• For the first half of the simmer time, leave the pot uncovered.  Cover for the last half.
• Add in the cheese, stir and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

This recipe will make the equivalent to 4-5 jars of sauce.  That works out to be about 2 meals for our family of 6.

Note for Fresh Tomatoes: If you are using fresh tomatoes you will need to get the skins off first.  A simple method for this is to score the skins with a sharp knife, and then boil them for about a minute and place in cold water.  You will want to do this in batches.  Once you the tomatoes have cooled, the skins should peel off easily.  Chop and blend in a food processor before adding to the garlic.

Canning Directions: 

• Fill your quart or pint jars with the spaghetti sauce. Wipe down the top of the jar before putting on the lid and ring.
• Slowly lower your jars into a hot water canning bath and allow them to boil for 40 minutes.
• Using your Jar lifters carefully raise your jars out of the bath and allow them to cool overnight.  As your lids seal you will begin to hear slight popping sounds coming from your jars.  Store up to 1 year.