Emeril's Basic Sauce for Lasagna

HeatherFeather's Note:

This is the sauce Emeril made to go in the 1-2-3 Lasagna recipe. This makes about 10 cups or 1 1/2 quarts of sauce. This makes enough sauce for the lasagna recipe, plus another batch to freeze for later.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 10 cups

• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole canned tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (1 tsp.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:

1. Place the tomatoes in a large bowl and squeeze to break into small pieces; Set aside.
2. In a heavy 5-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano and black pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, 5 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce,tomato paste, water, and sugar, stir well, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Remove from the heat, and use as needed.

Reviews

[Ridinthewind]

Great basic lasanga sauce recipe. I halved the recipe and doubled the spices, as the other reviewers mentioned, plus added 1 T parmesan & about 1.5 T italian seasoning also. This is much cheaper, healthier and overall better than store-bought. Will make again-thanks.

[Linda Saslove]

He can do no wrong. I made this sauce and used to make the meat sauce recipe for his fabulous 123 lasagna and it is perfect. Do not use store bought anymore. E calls it his red sauce. Linda

[Roxygirl in Colorado]

I made a double batch of this which made two lasagnas with about 8 cups of leftover sauce. I appreciated the mild flavor (This recipe is from Emeril's "kid" cookbook) but would definitely recommend more garlic/double spices for many adult palates. I spent several min. breaking up the tomatoes with my hands before adding to the pot and my sauce turned out mostly super smooth (with a few chunks). I have a NY pizza cookbook and that's how they prep the tomatoes. Thanks HeatherFeather! Roxygirl