How do you make spaghetti sauce?
I like to get the canned tomatoes that have basil and oregano already added. Then I add lots of basil and oregano to the sauce (fresh if I have it, dried otherwise). And yes, as everyone else has said, start by sauteeing onions, though I usually add garlic as well because I like the way that it puffs up and gets golden brown. I’ll add chopped sausages, mushrooms, black pepper, red pepper, red wine, et cetera, and let it cook down (10-15 minutes.) I tend to taste frequently and add what I think it needs. oh, nifty anchovy trick, CunningLinguist! I’ll have to give that a shot. (along similar lines, I sometimes reserve the olive oil that good tuna comes packed in — it’s great for sauteeing things.
Here is a very simple sauce I read in the Spectator – I’ve used it very frequently as a base. Add one can of tomatoes to a sauce pan. Put on low heat, add a knob of butter, 1 tsp spoon sugar, salt and black pepper to season. Variations include adding a whole garlic clove or half a peeled onion (not chopped). Chuck these out once you use the sauce. Amazing how cooking tinned tomatoes really alters them.
The basic boring, as everyone has already said, involves sauteing onions until they are translucent, cook in some mushrooms if you want, throwing in some minced garlic, then the (well drained) tomatoes right before the garlic burns. Add a pinch of oregano if you want, maybe some red wine. Add more salt than you might think (tomatoes really need a good dash of salt) and cook at a medium heat till at the consistency you want. Top with fresh italian parsley if you want. Another simple version is: Buy 1 hot italian sausage per person, chop into pieces, cook in a pan. Remove sausage from pan, add tomatoes, cook, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to remove all that crusty bit from the sausages (teflon is evil). Put back in the sausages and cook for a bit longer. This goes really well with some creamy goat’s cheese. Recently I’ve been avoiding the garlic (or cut way back, I used to use 4-5 cloves, now I normally only use 1 small clove) and onions and try other flavors instead
