Spaghetti Sauce (Pasta Sauce)

I make my own tomato based pasta and pizza sauces. I am the master of my mouth and know exactly what I like. Making a pasta sauce that you will love is easy. Let’s make some.

I use a good canned tomato sauce as the base. I keep a small case of the 15oz cans of a premium sauce in stock (if Hunts will sponsor me I will let you know which brand I use) and will open a can and use only what I need for my cooking event. So if I am cooking pasta for just my wife, I use half of a can. The rest goes in a small covered container for refrigeration and later use. I never waste any unused tomato sauce.

Pasta Sauce for ONE

7-8 oz canned tomato sauce

1 tsp sugar

pinch black pepper

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

2 teaspoons chopped onion or more (if its me that is eating)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp ground Parmesan cheese or Asiago cheese

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried Parsley

Place olive oil , onion and garlic into a small sauce pan on medium heat. Sweat the onion until it clarifies, add oregano, black pepper, parsley and basil and stir until you can smell the bouquet coming from the dried herbs. Add the tomato sauce and sugar and stir occasionally until the rumble of a low boil begins …you will add the cheese at the end just before you plate the pasta. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and work your pasta. This sauce is all but ready. Taste and adjust the sweetness with more sugar if you are a sweet tooth. I do not add salt. The tomato sauce has a natural salty taste to me and I am using the sugar to take that citric acidy and salty bite off the sauces natural flavor.  Just as you are ready to serve the pasta….stir in your cheese/s and then plate the pasta and top with your home made delicious sauce.

I can add meat to this if I want…but this is a great start.

There are a world full of variations to this base pasta sauce. But using this basic recipe and experimenting with your tastes is paramount to creating your custom meal topping. If you are diabetic…and the sugar is a substitution need for you. Leave it out until the end and then add your substitute. The reason behind waiting until the end for a sugar substitute lays in the fact that several of the more established brands have a formulation that is altered by heating and cooking. If you wait until the moment before you serve the meal…there is a low to no chance that the sugar substitute will be heat affected.