Garofalo Spaghetti Sauce

Looking for comfort food?  Spaghetti always does it for me.  Growing up Catholic in the 60’s meant you couldn’t eat Meat on Fridays, or you might go to Hell.   So our Mom (her maiden name being Garofalo) served Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce every Friday (only in those days we just said “spaghetti without meat”).   The sauce is very simple but I think the best I have ever tasted (as good as any Italian family restaurant found in Tuscany).  Only once have I found a similar-tasting sauce and that was at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.   My sauce yields 3 cups.   I usually use two cups to whatever pasta I am serving that night and take the remaining 1 cup of sauce and freeze in individual containers (about 3 tablespoons each) so I can have pasta with my sauce whenever I want.

One more thing, I love to fry leftover spaghetti the next day (use only butter in the pan, no olive oil).  Bellissimo!

Serving:  3 cups Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 Yellow Onion (finely chopped)
• 2 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped – not pressed)
• 1 large can of tomato sauce (15 oz size)
• 1 large can of San Marzano, whole, peeled tomatoes
• 1 medium Carrot – grated
• 3/4 cup of white wine
• 2 Beef Boullion cubes
• 1 Tsp. Oregano (dried)
• Salt if you want, but the boullion cubes should be enough sa

Prep:

1. Use a non-stick fry pan and cover bottom with thin layer of Olive Oil (I use EVOO)
2. Add chopped onion and garlic and saute until onions are transparent
3. Pour in the whole can of tomato sauce, PLUS 1 can of water
4. Add the boullion cubes, grated carrot, oregano, and white wine.   Add half of the canned tomatoes.   You will want to roughly chop them – don’t spend a lot of time on chopping, you just want to release the juices and make it easier for them to fall apart in the sauce.    You can use the remaining canned tomatoes for a Bruschetta later in the week.
5. Bring to a boil; cover the pan; turn down to Low so sauce is just simmering – let it simmer for 20 minutes
6. Then add another 1/2 can of water and bring to a boil again.
7. Time to “test” the sauce:  we always dip chunks of French Bread in the sauce – should be ready to pour over the pasta!