Here is another great basic red sauce recipe........but it needs long, slow simmering, for at least a couple of hours!

Reviewed On: Apr. 19, 2003

With a couple of minor adjustments, this is excellent. With this quantity of garlic, I think slow cooking for much longer than 90 minutes is essential. Otherwise there is a lingering garlic harshness which mellows and becomes a great undertone after about three hours. I also would use far more onion......onions are full of sugar, and also add a nice chunkiness. I'd use four or five times the onion, sauteed until translucent.

Reviewed On: Apr. 19, 2003

Just as all the other reviews say, this is THE basic red sauce recipe. It's great as is, and it's also versatile: add a lot of chopped flat-leaf parsley in the last hour; add bay leaves at the beginning (making sure to fish them out at the end!); add chopped fresh basil in the last hour; add red wine at the beginning and boil off the alcohol; throw in a rind of hard cheese. I would add one teeny suggestion: canned tomato sauce is already pretty cooked, and this is a long-cooked sauce. You may want to use whole peeled tomatoes, which you can either dice and use with the liquid, or whirl it in the blender. It's no big deal, but it is a far less-cooked product, suitable for long cooking in the recipe.

Reviewed On: Apr. 19, 2003