Today on The Stay At Home Chef I'm showing you how to make Homemade Spaghetti Sauce. This one is a tried and true family favorite
that I've been making for years. In fact usually I make a double batch just so I can freeze half
for those busy nights when I don't feel like cooking. We're gonna be using 3 different preserved tomato products today, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. These will give you the best most fresh flavor
because they are preserved immediately after picking. If you want to use whole tomatoes I have a separate video for that. You'll just want to make sure that they're fresh,
like from your own garden, or from a farmers market. Next let's head on over to the stove and get started. Get 2 tablespoons of olive oil heating
in a 4-6 quart pot over medium-high heat. Give that a minute to heat up
and then add in 1 white or yellow diced onion. We're gonna sauté this for about 5 minutes
until the onion starts to get soft and translucent. Now I'm demonstrating just the plain spaghetti sauce, because my family likes to eat spaghetti and meatballs, so I don't need to add any ground beef to this. However if you wanted to use ground beef,
you'd add it in with your onions and cook it thoroughly, and then drain off the excess grease. Next I'm gonna add in 5 cloves of minced garlic. Let the garlic toast for about 60-90 seconds
to really bring out the best garlic flavor, then we'll pour in 1/2 cup of chicken broth, or you can use white or red wine. Add in 28-30 ounces of crushed tomato, 15 ounces of tomato sauce,
which is just pureed tomatoes, and a 6 ounce can of tomato paste, and if you cut open both sides an easy trick
is that you can then use the other lid to push it right through. Makes it come out so much easier. Then we'll sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of sugar, which will help to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes, or if you don't want to use sugar, you can use the same amount (1 tablespoon)
of really finely minced carrot. Next you'll need 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and then this last one is optional,
but I also like to add in 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds. Fennel has this wonderful anise flavor, they use it in sausages, and so this adds a really meaty flavor to the sauce
without actually using meat. Then we'll add in 1/2 cup of fresh basil, or you can use about 2 tablespoons of dried, very last ingredient,
1/4 cup of freshly chopped parsley, or 1 tablespoon of dried. Then we just stir this altogether and bring it to a simmer. Flavor is gonna develop as this sauce simmers. I recommend letting it simmer over a low heat for at least 30 minutes, or if you've got the time,
this can go for up to 2-4 hours. With long simmering times you want to add a lid on to prevent evaporation. If you don't want to babysit it on the stovetop,
you can also transfer it all into a slow cooker, and let it simmer throughout the day
while you're busying doing other things and running errands, and then it will be ready for dinner. Once your sauce is done simmering
you can either serve it up as is all chunky, or use an immersion blender or a regular blender to blend until smooth. You can use this recipe for canning. You'll need to add the appropriate ratio of lemon juice or citric acid, or the easiest way to store it is to freeze it. I just put it into a plastic resealable freezer bag, and then lay it flat to freeze. Thanks for watching. You can find the full written recipe in the video description. Be sure to subscribe, like, and follow,
and check out the rest of my videos, where you can find hundreds of restaurant quality recipes you can easily make at home. We'll see you later.
