Spaghetti Sauce Recipe
With Roasted Bell Peppers
And Other "S" Sauces

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

A good spaghetti sauce recipe isn't hard to make, but it isn't fast because it's a "back burner" project. If you think it's good tonight, wait until you taste the leftovers tomorrow. In fact, I like to make it ahead and let it hang out in the fridge 24 hours. There are two variants on this page, both are the "chunky" type, the first one is meatless.

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe with Roasted Bell Peppers

4	whole	tomatoes
4	whole	red bell peppers
0.5	whole	chopped onion, large
3	Tablespoons	olive oil
6	whole	garlic cloves
1	pinch	red pepper flakes
6	whole	peppercorns
3	whole	bay leaves
8	sprigs	fresh tarragon
0.25	cup	white wine
2	cubes	bouillon cubes
1	teaspoon	sugar
3	cups	cooked spaghetti

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe with Roasted Bell Peppers directions:

Here's a spaghetti sauce recipe with roasted bell peppers. This one's quite easy because roasting veggies means peeling is a cinch! The skin just slides off with a little encouragement. This sauce will give you that desirable "chunky" appearance.

Take four large, sun-ripened tomatoes and roast them at 425 for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven (the skins will begin to split.) At the same time, roast four red bell peppers until they are scorched on the outside. I roast vegetables on top of a pizza stone that I pre-heated inside the oven. Allow those veggies to cool until comfortable enough to handle then peel off the skin with your fingers. I have tried this with and without putting the vegetables in a paper bag (to create a mini-sauna) and it seems easier to me when I skip the bag.) Remove the seeds and seed plug (they're bitter) from the bell peppers and cut coarsely. cut the tomatoes in half to scoop out its seeds and chop that coarsely as well.

In a deep pan or heavy dutch oven, sweat half a large chopped onion drizzled with 3T of olive oil, then add 6 whole cloves of garlic. When that becomes transparent, add the tomatoes and bell peppers. Now for the seasonings. Add 1t sugar, two bouillon cubes, a pinch of red pepper flakes, 6 peppercorns, three bay leaves, 8 sprigs of fresh tarragon, lightly chopped. [To remove the tender leaves from the tough stem, hold the sprig at its top and run your fingernails down the stem.] Simmer on low for 45 minutes. Optionally, add a splash of dry white wine. Taste test and adjust salt and pepper, more than likely the salt in the bouillon cubes will be enough. Serve over penne pasta or spaghetti.

Optionally, you can add kielbasa that has been sliced into coin shapes and browned a tiny bit on the edges in a skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil. Dust with grated, fresh parmesan.

Spaghetti Sauce

1	cup	chopped onions
1	cup	chopped celery
1	bottom bulb of	chopped fennel
2	whole	green bell peppers, sliced
3	Tablespoons	olive oil
4	sprigs	fresh oregano
10	leaves	fresh basil
2	cans	diced tomatoes, with juice about 20 oz
1	cup	chicken broth, optional as needed
1	whole	carrot
1	teaspoon	brown sugar
1	pound	lean ground beef
1	teaspoon	browning sauce
3	cups	spaghetti

Spaghetti Sauce Directions

Put the oil in a cast iron dutch oven (or your heaviest large pot) and add the chopped onions, celery and fennel. After three minutes, add the more quickly cooked bell peppers and another drizzle of olive oil. Now your more delicate herbs (oregano and basil and a couple of bay leaves - the bay must be fished out before serving) go in along with the minced garlic and, if you like a "bite" to your sauce, a pinch of red pepper flakes and cook two minutes, stirring. Add the diced tomatoes with their juice, a cup of chicken broth, and simmer. Add the cleaned and peeled carrot (whole) and let it soften in the sauce. Two teaspoons of brown sugar are optional but will add to the "complexity" of your spaghetti sauce. Layer in S&P gently, less salt taste than you want the final product because this will become saltier as it reduces.

Brown one pound of lean ground beef using a potato masher to break it up so it will cook evenly, S&P. Drain off the fat and put the ground meat in the dutch oven. Now for your "insurance" if you want the sauce thicker. Retrieve the carrot from the dutch oven when it is soft, and puree it in a food processor and add it back in toward the end of the cooking to give the sauce more "body." Plate your dish on a bed of pasta. Sprinkle the sauce with a chiffonade of fresh basil (optional) and parmigiano reggiano in large flakes (use a cheese slicer).

Fixes: if you oversalted, add UNSALTED chicken broth, vegetable broth - or even water - and a teaspoon more sugar and reduce it again. If you like your sauce to look a little darker and richer, add half a teaspoon of Browning Sauce (I use Kitchen Bouquet).

About cooking the pasta - one food chemist says that adding oil to the boiling water will prevent the pasta from taking up the salt seasoning while another says the oil prevents the spaghetti from sticking together. I lean to the first method. You can prevent this clumping if you are attentive in separating the pasta instead of just dumping it in and stirring carefully (the water should be at a hard boil) the first few minutes when the spaghetti goes in - without using the oil. Fewer calories! If you rinse the spaghetti just before serving in a sieve under hot water, some of the gluten rinses away which means that this spaghetti won't be sticky.

Every cook needs a spaghetti sauce recipe in his/her repertoire. It's one of the basics. The meatless one can be dressed up with canned clams (don't forget to add a little of the clam juice!). If you are really gung-ho about enriching your diet with vegetables, some sliced zucchini about ten minutes before serving blends in quite well. Don't forget to sprinkle the finished dish with parmesan.

Here's some other "S" Sauces, continued...

...including a very simple Spanish Spaghetti Sauce Recipe. That smoky cumin in the recipe is just the ticket for changing up a traditional Italian spaghetti sauce.