Reviewed: May 22, 2012

I made this yesterday and was going to rate it four stars. I served it over thin spaghetti and it was very good. Today I took the leftover sauce, "smoothed" it in the processor, and served it over cheese ravioli. WOW! The flavors blended overnight, and the slight bite of the black pepper was even better than my favorite Italian restaurant. My grandmother was northern Italian and grandfather was southern Italian, so I grew up with Italian cooking. Definitely the key to this sauce is using fresh basil and fresh garlic and yes, I altered the recipe and used olive oil. Easy, simple, delicious! Great recipe!

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Reviewer:

arctic200

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Holden, Massachusetts, USA

Living In: Rockville, Maryland, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 2, 2011

Excellent recipe. Substituted beef broth for the water, also added fresh tyme.

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Reviewer:

Flyrod

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

Living In: Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada

Reviewed: Sep. 8, 2011

This was very good. I don't eat meat so I needed a sauce that didn't use any bacon, pork, beef or chicken. I followed a tip offered in one of the other reviews and added 2 peeled and split carrots. This did cut the acidity. I might throw in a pinch of sugar but only because I like my sauce a little on the sweet side. I substituted 2 tbsp of olive oil for the vegetable oil. Thanks Mirella Cina this will be my sauce for life.

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Reviewer:

juju

Reviewed: Jul. 5, 2011

This recipe is delicious exactly as written. I make it almost weekly during the winter. The sauce also makes a great base for additions. I especially enjoy adding hot italian sausage. Mmm.

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Reviewer:

fizzyginger

Reviewed: Mar. 8, 2011

too much pepper although i did forget to add the water so i'll try again again and keep updated cause otherwise very good

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Reviewer:

Glowgirl

Reviewed: Jan. 26, 2011

I didn't add tomatoes because I hate them. I used tomato paste only. And I use olive oil rather than vegetable oil. Very good.

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Reviewer:

queline213

Reviewed: Nov. 13, 2010

I've always wanted to make my own and this was really good sauce. My husband said it tastes so good, his Italian father (who has always made his gravy from scratch) would be proud. I did tweak it as suggested by Prendila, carrots, oregano and bay. Will definitely use this again, maybe adding sausage or meatballs for other flavors. Thanks!!!

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Reviewer:

Christina

Reviewed: Nov. 1, 2010

Nice flavor. Too thin

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Reviewer:

KarenB

Reviewed: Aug. 2, 2010

Very good basic recipe that can be altered to suit your tastes. I used only 1.5 cups water, which made it the perfect consistency for me.

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Reviewer:

SilverNBlack

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Jun. 10, 2010

Pretty good, this is what I did..I added more basil then asked for and also added some fresh parsley i didnt have a can of crushed tomatoes so i used chopped tomatoes and decided to run them through the blender since i dont really like chunks in my sauce. I added lots and lots of garlic powder, garlic salt, and crushed red peppers, and of course I added the sugar as well. I mixed this sauce with some ground beef over some angel hair pasta...yummy! My roommates ate it all up!

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