I have made no less than 20 different tomato sauces in my life and I have used little bits and pieces from all of my favorites to create this one, alpha, GOAT, tomato sauce. You can make a giant batch of this and use it to make so many fun things, or just use it for spaghetti but you know what? That is boring. If you want to make it meatless, you totally can, just don’t add the meat, that simple!
Use this sauce to make:
Lasagna Pasta
Stuffed Shells (coming soon but all grocery stores are sold out of jumbo shells after Chrissy Teigen made stuffed shells)
Ravioli Bake
Lasagna Roll Ups (also coming soon!)
what you need:
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped very finely I pulse mine in the food processor because I like my onions very tiny but you can just chop em
- 1 BULB (yes bulb) roasted garlic, crushed with a fork (see notes below on this)
- 2 cans tomato paste
- 1 28oz can tomato sauce if you like chunky sauce, sub: one 16oz can tomato sauce and one 16oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 package of ground Italian sausage **if you want to make this meatless just skip this!** I use the spicy turkey sausage but you can use whatever kind of ground Italian sausage that you want just make sure it is the kind in the tray and not the kind in casings cause that is not the same!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper optional but I like some spice
- 2 tsp salt, separated you are adding 1 tsp at a time
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
what you need to do:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Okay so to start off, we need to roast your garlic. This takes about 45 minutes so do this ahead of time.
- Take your bulb, and chop off the top, revealing all of the little garlic cloves. Now drizzle a bit of olive oil on top, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Wrap it up in aluminum foil, put it on a baking sheet, and put it in the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes. Your entire house will smell like garlic, you’re welcome.
- When the garlic is done, it will be squishy and golden and fragrant. Open it up and let it cool down while you begin your sauce.
- In a large dutch oven or pot, warm up 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium heat. Once oil is hot, put in your onions with 1 tsp of salt. Cook until onions are soft and fragrant.
- Next, add in your sausage, using a wooden spoon to break it up into tiny pieces as it browns. Stir as it cooks, chopping it up as you go. Continue to chop it up with your spoon until it reaches your desired size, I like mine to be super super fine. If you are making this without the sausage just skip this step.
- Grab your garlic bulb and squish out all of the gooey cloves onto a small plate. Make sure you get ALLLL of it. Smash it with your fork until it resembles a paste.
- Once the meat is browned, add in your tomato paste and all of the roasted garlic. Stir until it is combined well and the tomato paste has melted into the meat.
- Add in your can of tomato sauce (or 1 can of sauce + 1 can of crushed toms).
- Fill the can up a little less than halfway with water and add to pot.
- Now, add in italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, 1 tsp salt, pepper, oregano, sugar, garlic powder, and fresh parsley. Stir until everything is completely combined.
- Lower your heat to simmer/low and put the lid on your pot. Cook for about 1.5 – 2 hours. Stirring every 15 min or so.
- This makes quite a bit of sauce so you can store it in the fridge to use as needed or you can even pop it in the freezer until you are ready to use it again!
