Botticelli’s rich Italian tomato sauce – Recipe
Botticelli's rich Italian tomato sauce – Recipe
Make plenty of the sauce at one time
I do not exaggerate when I say that I have spent about 35 years perfecting my Italian tomato sauce. As I have stated before, I have many different tomato-based sauces that I use with different kinds of Italian food (e.g., see my or recipes), but this is my favorite. It is fabulous with lasagna and other cheese and noodle dishes that require a rich and zesty tomato sauce. I always make this sauce with Italian sausage (try my fresh Italian sausage). Sometimes I will use meatballs instead. But the sausage gives a wonderful flavor to the sauce and vice versa. I also make a lot of sauce at one time, because it has to cook for 4 hours. Later, I will show you how you can bottle the sauce to preserve it.
Ingredients (it is enough to make two large pans of lasagna – or 10 to 12 servings of spaghetti):
- 3 – 28 oz cans of plum tomatoes (whole) – use San Marzano if you can find them. If not, will do. (I will write an article on San Marzano plum tomatoes later and try to point you toward the real thing.)
- 9 – 6 oz cans of tomato paste (I typically use Hunts)
- Water as directed
- 1 pinch of baking soda
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano (or equivalent fresh). Although fresh is generally best, it does not have much impact on the taste of this sauce so I suggest dry.
- 1 teaspoon dry basil (or equivalent fresh). Same here – you don’t need fresh.
- 2 fresh garlic cloves diced
- 1 pound fresh button mushrooms cut
- 3 to 4 pounds of mild Italian sausage
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[...] Botticelli's rich Italian tomato sauce – Recipe Good Tomato Growing As I have stated before, I have many different tomato-based sauces that I use with different kinds of Italian food (e.g. see my or recipes), but this is my favorite. It is fabulous with lasagna and other cheese and 9 – 6 oz cans of tomato paste (I typically use Hunts); Water as directed; 1 pinch of baking soda; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 2 teaspoons sugar; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon dry oregano (or equivalent fresh). Although fresh is generally best, [...]
I’ve always thought the #1 secret to the best tomato sauce is the tomatos themselves. We’ve spent quite a bit of time growing different types and have always found that heirlooms work best for us. Thanks for sharing your recipe!