Darthlaurie's Indispensable Basic Pasta Sauce

Submitted by darthlaurie

"Everyone has that one recipe they can't live without. This is the recipe I turn to when I don't know what else to fix for dinner. When I was first out on my own, I looked up a bunch of recipes and then, I figured out what I really needed to make a basic pasta sauce. This is really basic and you can add veggies or meat or anything else you want to try. Have fun and enjoy!"

 

• Ready In: 17mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 3-6

ingredients

• 1 (14 1/2-16 ounce) can chopped tomatoes
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 beef bouillon cubes or 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1⁄2 tablespoon italian seasoning
• 1 minced garlic clove
• 1⁄2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
• 1 dash pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

directions

1. In a medium pot, saute garlic in olive oil, if desired. If you choose not to, go on to step 2.
2. Combine all the ingredients except for the red pepper flakes. Simmer over medium heat until sauce boils; smash tomatoes during simmering. Simmer until it reaches desired consistency (this will take longer without tomato paste).
3. Add red pepper flakes in the last five minutes of cooking.
4. Serve over favorite pasta or freeze.
5. Tips: If sauce just isn't tasting right, add a tiny bit of sugar or salt. Roasted red peppers, onions, and mushrooms are particularly tasty additions. The longer you simmer the sauce, the tastier it becomes. Add more seasonings as needed since all measurements are approximations.

Reviews

[Chef Dudo]

I agree that it is a great "starter" sauce. Easy to make and good taste. I added 3/4 cup water, otherwise it would have turned out too thick. Also I used a vegetable bouillon cube and I did not need either salt nor sugar. it freezes well. Thanks for posting.

 

[newspapergal]

A great "starter" sauce that uses items I always have on hand -- I added diced onion & mushrooms, tripled the garlic, and added about a cup & a half of water. It was still pretty thick after simmering for 2 hours (which is how we like it). I added in a pinch of kosher salt & a pinch of sugar when I stirred in the red pepper flakes. I served it over whole-wheat penne with a green salad & crusty bread -- a perfect lazy Sunday dinner. Thanks!

 

[dala162]

Best spagetti sauce I've ever made. I too added a diced onion and green pepper, I sauteed for 20 min before adding tomatoes, et. al. I also pureed in blender as my children don't like "chunks" of tomatoes. Thanks super recipe!

 

[Soup Fly]

Excellent basic sauce! I sauteed the garlic along with some diced onions and green peppers. Added the cans of tomatoes and tomato paste and thought it was way too thick, so I dissolved the chicken bullion cube in a cup of water and added it to the pot. Then I thought it was chunkier than I wanted, so I used my puree blender to smooth it out a bit. Added a bit of sugar and salt after the other seasonings to get it just right for our tastes. Sad to say I had no parmesan cheese, but this was really good all the same. Thank you!!

 

[lauralie41]

This sauce is very good and so easy to make! I used two cans of petite diced tomatoes and it was still a bit to thick for us so I added some chicken broth to thin it down a bit. Added extra garlic and diced one small onion to saute. Let the sauce simmer on low while pasta was cooking and it was just perfect! Will double the recipe next time so I can freeze some too. Thank you darthlaurie for posting!