Connie's Calabrian Pasta Sauce

GFJane's Note:

Connie is from Italy. Her pasta sauces are divine, but not heavily spiced or acidic like many in the US. This is subtle, with the tomatoes the shining ingredient. Because the tomatoes are front and center, use a good sauce tomato. She loves hers very sweet, using more than 1/3 c of sugar; I find I can use less and still enjoy it. Honey or agave syrup works equally well. The flavor meld together; hers reminds me of tomato soup it's so smooth.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 16

• 4 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 fennel bulb
• 1/3 cup sugar (or more to taste)
• 15 large basil leaves
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:

1. Using a food processor, process tomatoes until mostly smooth. A few small chunks are OK.
2. Crush the garlic using a garlic press, or finely chop.
3. Clean the fennel well, then slice into 1/4" slices and dry the pieces with a paper towel.
4. Add the oil to a large, heavy stock pot.
5. When shimmering, add the fennel and saute until it's starting to lightly brown.
6. Add the garlic and stir just until it's fragrant.
7. Immediately add the processed tomatoes.
8. Add the tomato paste, basil, and spices.
9. Cook for an hour, uncovered, with the sauce just barely simmering, and stirring occasionally.
10. Taste the sauce. If it is a bit acidic/tart, add 1 T of sugar at a time stirring well and tasting it after each addition. Add no more than 1/4 cup at this time.
11. Continue simmering,. If you like a "fresh" sauce with some tomato lumps, you can use it as quickly as 1 hour. If you like a smooth sauce, as she makes hers, continue to cook.
12. After another hour, taste it again. If it's still too acidic/tart for your taste, add more sugar, 1 T at a time, tasting after each addition.
13. When done, freeze or can the sauce for later consumption. If you can it, make sure you follow safe canning procedures and make sure the pH is safe.

Reviews

[stgmngrjan]

This sauce didn't work for me. It tasted bitter and bland, and I added a little agave syrup to sweeten, but didn't want an overly-sweet taste. Added a dash of balsamic vinegar, which added some depth. But I finally had to add about a pound of good Italian sausage to get a decent flavor. Thanks, Jan

[Cooks4_6]

This is a wonderful tasting sauce. I am a 4th generation Italian-American and both my Paternal Great-Grandparents came from Calabria. Nono Frank passed down a recipe for spaghetti sauce that uses similar ingredients, but includes pork. This is a nice alternative for the Summer! I loved it! The only changes I made were to use 3 cans of crushed tomatos instead of processing the whole; and I used a jar of basil pesto I needed to use up in place of the fresh basil. I let mine cook about 1 1/2 hours ; Most excellent!