Grandma Dolly's Spaghetti Sauce

My Italian mother-in-law has been making this spaghetti sauce forever and it's always a treat when she cooks up a big pot.  She usually makes meatballs for her sauce, which are scrumptious, but I use ground beef.  It makes such a huge pot of sauce that I use the leftovers for lasagne, pizza, on breaded and fried chicken cutlets (gluten free breading for me, thanks), and anything else I can think of that needs a red sauce.  Make a note that this not a thick sauce, so if you want it thicker, add less water.  


2 28 oz. cans Tomato Puree (plus 2 cans water)
2 15 oz. cans Tomato Sauce (plus 2 cans water)

2 6 oz. cans of Tomato Paste
About 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper
1 TBLS. Basil
1 TBLS. Parsley 

1 TBLS Sugar (My mother-in-law uses more)

1 TBLS Baking soda (My mother-in-law uses more)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 pound of ground hamburger 

Olive oil
Parmesan Cheese (garnish)

Gluten-free spaghetti noodles

First, saute the garlic in a little olive oil. Add the beef to brown. Drain off the oil. Then add all the other ingredients except the baking soda to the pot. Bring to a good simmer, then turn the heat down and let it lightly simmer for 2 or 3 hours (or more). After a couple of hours add the baking soda.  Taste it at this point and see if it needs more seasoning and add more if needed. Sometimes I make this around 1:00 in the afternoon and it cooks slowly all day long, making the house smell heavenly.

People often think that making spaghetti sauce from "scratch" is difficult. It's almost as easy as opening a couple of ready-made jars, but tastes a hundred times better.  It's so simple! The addition of the sugar and the baking soda remove the tart tomato taste and turn this into a more mellow tasting sauce.

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Add some gluten-free rolls and a green salad to finish it off nicely.