When you make spaghetti sauce....

[Dookus]

do you let it simmer for a few hours, or just heat it up?

My mom always taught me, when making sauce, to let it sit for a long time, stirring often on very low heat. I'm making lasagna today, just started the sauce.

How long should I let it simmer? I have tomato sauce, tomato paste, pureed tomatoes, lotsa garlic and onions, and will add mushrooms later. Bay leaves, oregano, salt, pepper and a bit of sugar.

How long would you let it simmer?

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. I let it simmer for about 2 hours. I also do not add the garlic in

right away. I put it in the last thirty minutes, otherwise it tends to get lost flavor wise. Oh, and can I come over for dinner?

:hi:

[Dookus]

2. hrmm...

I always start with a little garlic in olive oil, heat it up, add some onions, then the sauce stuff.

I'll add some more garlic at the end, though :)

And sure, c'mon by!

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. I saute the garlic in olive oil and add it near the end.

Me I could just eat the pasta mixed with the olive oil and garlic with a little green pepper to boot, but the rest of the family loves tomato sauce. :)

[Nite Owl]

3. At least an hour.

Add a little basil and olive oil. I add the sugar too but my grandma would have considered it a big no-no. I can remember her making it every Sunday when I was little.

[smirkymonkey]

4. I let it simmer for at least a few hours...

but make sure you stir it periodically so that it doesn't burn. Then I let it cool overnight and serve it the next day - the flavor is much more robust and concentrated. I also like to stir in some grated (real, freshly grated if possible) parmesan or romano before serving.

However, in a pinch, I have just served it the day of and it's usually fine - the flavor is just not as intense. Good luck! It's making me hungry!

[GOPisEvil]

6. I simmer mine for about 30 minutes.

I sautee onion and garlic until it gets a little brown. I add thyme, shredded carrot. I add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Then I simmer it for 30 minutes and salt at the end.

It's good stuff. I usually keep some in the freezer, just in case.

[nini]

30. carrots?

I never heard that.. hmmmm sounds interesting.

[GOPisEvil]

39. The carrots function as a sweetener...no sugar needed.

People tend to notice something, but they can't quite figure out what. I stole the idea from Mario Batali. Shh! :-)

[fudge stripe cookays]

45. Another carrot person! Yay!

My mom learned that from her Italian maid when my parents were stationed at Aviano. We also add a bit of cinnamon, which gives things a wonderful flavor.

And I do use meat. A big jar of Barilla or some other sauce (I like the arrabiata), lots of garlic, onion, basil, oregano, cinnamon, and carrots. Yum!

I'd simmer around half an hour to give all the flavors time to meld.

[arwalden]

48. Same Here... About Thirty Minutes

Ragu or Barilla is a fine "base"... but I always add more tomatos and peppers and garlic and mushrooms. mmmmm.

-- Allen

[Cleita]

7. I always thought the simmering was to thicken and reduce

the sauce to make it a richer flavored one. But what do I know? I just open a jar of Ragu.

[Syrinx]

8. the longer the better

At least a couple of hours, in my opinion. I like to put in the crockpot, and let it simmer all day long.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. Not long.

Simmer for hours when making the stuff from scratch-- peeling and straining your own tomatoes...

However, the longer it sits there on low heat, the more the flavors from the stuff you added combine, so just let it go on as long as you feel like letting it go on.

Many sauces and gravies tend to like to sit in the fridge for a day or two after the appropriate simmering to let the flavors merge even more without any interference from the heat. Since your sauce is based on something commercial, though, most of it's already been sitting around for ages.

[Bertha Venation]

10. I like to simmer it for a while

I once did it for too long, though, and wound up having to add water. I added too much, so I had to add some paste, and by that time the sauce was ruined.

Your mom's right: low heat. Just reading what you've put in, it sounds fabulous. I'm sure whatever you do it'll be great.

[Dookus]

14. my trick for that

I actually let it thicken a little. Then add mushrooms. The water from the mushrooms thin it out a little.

[Ricdude]

11. Me? Simmer half an hour or so.

Especially if you're making lasagne, it'll cook another 45 minutes or so in the oven, so the spices will have plenty of time to add flavor.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey (or beef, or frozen spinach for the vegetarians)

2-3 jars of spagetti sauce
1-2 tbsp each of basil, oregano, parsley
1 tsp each of pepper and chili powder

1 container of cottage cheese
1 container of ricotta
1 cup of grated parmesan/romano

2 pounds shredded mozzarella
1 pound shredded "italian" blend

2 pounds lasange noodles (uncooked)

Directions:

1) Simmer sauce in saucepan. Add spices. Stir occasionally.
2) Brown ground meat/steam spinach. Drain well and add to sauce.
3) In mixing bowl, stir cottage, ricotta, and parmesan/romano together.
4) Continue to let sauce simmer for 30 minutes.
5) Preheat oven to 400, remove sauce from heat and grease pan (olive oil pam spray works well).
6) Put a few spoonfuls of sauce in bottom of pan and spread around.
7) Layer noodles (yes, still uncooked), cheese mix, sauce, mozarella
8) Repeat layering until pan is full, save shredded italian blend for top
9) Bake for about 40 minutes, until cheese on top turns golden brown.

Serves four. For three days..

[Dookus]

13. yumm...

that's how I usually make it (and I never cook the noodles, either).

My bf is a veggie, though, so I'm trying something new.

Mix the Ricotta, cottage cheese and shredded mozarella with chopped spinach. Make a big ol' schmear out of it, then proceed as you describe. Should be good.

[regnaD kciN]

41. I've never heard of not cooking the noodles before...

Are you using fresh pasta, or the boxed Ronzoni/Barilla type of thing?

[Dookus]

43. regular old boxed noodles

they cook in the oven, absorbing the moisture from the sauce. Trust me, it works, and makes the whole process a lot easier.

[Ricdude]

46. Other additions for the veggies only eater...

Add a can of sliced black olives and/or a cup of sliced mushrooms to the sauce. If you're feeling extra frisky, slice and saute portobella mushrooms and add those.

Yes, I use regular old uncooked lasagne noodles, whatever's on sale that week.

Warning, mine is not a "low calorie" recipe. But, you can always choose part-skim mozarella, and light cottage cheese, etc. to help keep individual servngs below 3000 calories.

[tridim]

12. Used to simmer, but now I use this recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_10743,00.html

In a pinch I can make a batch in about 30 minutes start to finish, but I usually let it simmer an extra 30 minutes at the end.

[The Magistrate]

15. The Longer The Better, Mr. Dookus

And on the lowest heat; one suitable for rice is best.

As a practical matter, of course, there is seldom time to do it right, but my preference is for almost nothing to remain solid and recognizable as onion or mushroom, or even meat, by the time it is served.

And for heaven's sake, Sir...add some red wine!

[Dookus]

17. heheh

we think alike, Mr. M.

I've let it go as long as 7 hours.

And yes, the red wine is already in. More will be coming :)

on edit: the wine is in the sauce. I am just beginning to apply it liberally to the cook.

[The Magistrate]

19. Put Some In Yourself Too, Sir!

My best wishes for a pleasant evening, my friend!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. Never add unreduced red wine to any sauce

it'll ruin it....start with the wine when you do the garlic and oil or reduce it in a separate pan.

[Dookus]

21. eep!

I just added a healthy splash.

I'll reduce some when I saute more garlic later for it.

I didn't know you shouldn't add wine to the sauce. What does it do?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

22. The alcohol sours the taste of your other ingredients as it

has difficulty fully evaporating once it gets into say a mushroom...you want to cook off the alcohol by bringing to a boil then slowly simmering the alcohol off prior to adding so that you are left only with the sugars and other complex flavors from the wine

The ONLY exception to this is when cooking with fortified wines such as medieras or marsalas.

There is an excellent thorough book that explains all aspects of the SCIENCE of cooking and baking called The Making of a Cook by Madeliene Kammen..it's rather thick and runs about 40$ but answers all questions such as this

[SOteric]

26. I concur with NSMA's assessment and add

a recommendation for Madeleine Kamman's The New Making of a Cook which in updates her original excellent information and is available for about the same price.

[SOteric]

27. I don't make a 'spaghetti sauce' per se

but all of the tomato-based sauces I've learnt from my Italian mother (who was a culinary professional) involve long slow simmers to develop the flavours. When I make a red sauce I often put my assembled ingredients in a crock pot on low and leave it cooking overnight.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. I let it simmer uncovered for a few hours to thicken and to

cut the acidity of the tomatoes...besides..I like the way it makes the house smell :D

[Dookus]

18. I think that's why I always start

with olive oil, garlic and onions. It puts the whole house into a "cooking" mood.

[Dookus]

23. Lasagna Progress Report:

As per Mrs. Grumpy and NSMA's advice, I just sauteed a little more garlic in olive oil, then added some red wine and reduced. Added to the sauce and YOWZA! It's TASTY!

I'm just about to assemble the mofo now.

[afraid_of_the_dark]

24. I can almost smell it...

your description is so vivid. You're making me hungry!

[ironflange]

25. It gets a bit better as you simmer it

But not by a lot. I don't usually bother.

Now, if we were talking chili or chicken soup, it'd be a whole 'nother story.

[chaska]

28. A long simmer is for fresh tomatoes. BUT...

Even then it's not necessary. There are a milliion ways to make spaghetti sauce. Simmering tomatoes that still contain the seeds will no doubt get bitter. Less is more as a general rule. Long simmer is good ad copy for the jarred sauce companies. do you really think Prego, Ragu, et al simmer for hours? Seconds is more like it.

[amazona]

29. no need to simmer at all

I make spaghetti for lunch almost every weekday. If it had to simmer for hours, I couldn't do that. Saute the onion and the garlic (carefully, garlic must never burn) in olive oil, then dump in the rest of the ingredients. By the time the pasta is ready, you'll have a light fresh sauce if you start with decent tomatoes (canned or fresh).

There is no point in adding bay leaf unless you are simmering 20 minutes -- that's how long it takes bay to really release its flavor -- but I can live without bay and frankly don't miss it. Too long simmering breaks down the other spices, so going an hour or more seems counter-productive to me, although my mom used to do this also.

I've just found No need whatever to simmer a vegetarian tomato sauce, not sure where this concept got started.

A meat sauce does improve with simmering but actually improves even more if you stick it in the fridge 24-48 hours, don't know why, but if you ever make it with meat sauce, try it and you'll see.

[nini]

31. I let it simmer 5-6 hours...

saute garlic and onion. add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, a bit of thyme, more garlic and I forget what else.

simmer as long as possible. I also add a lot of meat. I like thick meaty sauce.

yum

[Mr. Socko]

32. I usually cook it for 10-15 mins on middle-low heat.

That's all. When it bubbles, it's usually done. :shrug:

[haele]

33. Depends...

If I'm making it with fresh ingredients and no canned paste/sauce (or even with canned diced tomatoes), I will tend to simmer it a long time - first sauteing about a pound of minced Roma tomatoes in a cup of olive oil with a couple pinches of salt, then adding a half cup of water, bring to a medium boil, then simmer on low for an hour before I add my seasonings.

If I used canned paste/sauce as a base, I don't find I need to simmer for more than an hour or so. I heat the canned sauce up, drop it to a simmer, and add my onions and spices. More solid ingredients - the "veggies and meats" - should be added during the twenty minutes to let the sauce and solid bits merge flavors without overpowering each other.

If I'm cooking "Tuscan style" as a friend from the Italian enclave in Monterey taught me, I'll be throwing in shredded carrots and caramelized white onions, and bay, salt and fresh ground peppercorns in the beginning of the cooking period so that they would be part of the base sauce. The carrots are supposed to give the sauce a more "paste" texture with a bit of a sweeter taste and take some of the acidity out of the sauce.
I would then simmer for an hour before I add the garlic (crushed and lightly sauteed in olive oil), the oregano, the tarragon, and a half teaspoon of orange or lemon zest. Mushrooms, marinated or black olives, zucchini or sweet/hot Italian sausage, meatballs, shredded roast chicken, veal, anchovies, lobster - or all of above(!) - if desired - are added during the last half hour to twenty minutes of simmering. My friend told me that she was taught that spaghetti sauce should actually be made a day in advance to be truly appreciated.

Good luck - a great spaghetti sauce is an art form - not too strong, not to acidic, not overrun by garlic, but smooth, aromatic and a slightly tangy explosion of flavors - that just gets better with age.

Haele

[patcox2]

34. It depends what kind of sauce you are making

Seriously, there is no one answer. If you are making a ragout (a meat sauce, such as a bolognese) then it takes hours of simmering. If you are making a marinara, its all about freshness, you would not want to cook out all the fresh flavors.

Here in america, recipes seem to have strayed from the traditional italian methods that I have read about. In Italy, according to my sources, most sauces are quick, fresh creations quickly tossed with the pasta. Putanesca, primavera, marinara, carbonara, alfredo, are all sauces that take literally minutes to make. Leaving aside bolognese, I think its an american thing to cook red sauce for a long time, to put in pork and call it "gravy."

I have one strong suggestion for anyone who likes a good red sauce. Roast fresh tomatoes in the oven first, and make the sauce from roasted tomatoes. Roasting tomatoes does everything you want long cooking to do, it concentrates flavor, brings out the sweetness, yet it does so without that dulling, homogenizing effect that long simmering has. Roast an equal amount of tomatoes and garlic cloves in the oven (drizzle them with olive oil before you start) throw in a jalapeno, puree it all in a food processor, add some salt and pepper and some fresh basil, it can be done in an hour, master this, and you will never bother with long simmering again.

Magistrate, I have never disagreed with you before, but in this instance, I insist on my position. I challenge you to a pasta sauce cookoff to settle the matter. I will put my roasted fresh tomato marinara against your slow cooked gravy, in a juried contest.


alio oglio, ar all like this

[Dookus]

36. cool....

a lot to think about.

My favorite italian restaurant EVER is just down the street from me. He's a crazed Milanese who makes the most delicious pasta dishes, each from scratch, in a matter of minutes. Nothing is pre-cooked. There is no simmering over 10 minutes or so.

On the other hand, I grew up on Long Island with a million Italians who made traditional "gravy" and let it cook all day. Both methods seem to taste delicious.

I think the short-cooked, "fresh" sauce tastes... well... fresh. The gravy is richer and more complex.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

37. Great recommendation

:thumbsup:

[BiggJawn]

35. Used to simmer it all day, now I nuke it.

Man, been so long since I made real spag sauce....
Get some mild Italian sausage, slit the casing, brown the loose sausage. Then dice onions, saute in the sausage renderings till soft and translucent.
Then scoop out the onions, drain the grease (the sausage is draining, too) and put it in a pot with the sausage, tomato sauce, tomato paste (adds sweetness, no added cane sugar neded)
Basil, Oregano, Thyme, a few other herbs I can't remember, and get it simmering for as long as you have. Then, in the last 15 minutes, smash and bash the GAHHHH-lic (about 4 cloves) and add it along with some freshly grated Parmigiano...
Serve over slightly under-done pasta (Al Dente) and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.......

Now that it's just me, open a packet of Knorr's dried sauce, mix with a cuppa water and bring it to a boil and shut it off and wait for it to thicken...

An ORIGINAL Iron Chef Redneck BiggJawn Recipe!

Alles Cuisine!

[yellowdawgdem]

38. add vodka

add some vodka, then you won't notice the time.

[Forkboy]

40. I can't cook

but now I'm friggin starving.Thanks a lot! :spank:

[asteroid2003QQ47]

42. Spaghetti sauce without....?

If you’re not going to put fennel seeds in the sauce I’ll give it a miss and have a salad instead.

[Dookus]

44. ok....

but you missed a great lasagna!

I'm not a fennel kinda guy.

[DemBones DemBones]

47. Dookus, it's not necessary to simmer tomato sauce for hours

and I'm not sure it's done anywhere in Italy. Perhaps the idea behind it is to semi-caramelize the sauce, since it seems the simmer-for-hours folks also think adding sugar is a sacrilege.

I've got Italian friends (Tuscan and Sicilian) who've spent their entire lives in Italy and they don't simmer their sauces all day. They also add sugar when they're using canned tomato paste or sauce -- it's another myth that Italians alway, always use fresh tomatoes They suffer a lack of good tomatoes in winter just like we do and perfectly good sauces for pasta can be made with canned tomato products, saving the fresh tomatoes for bruschetta, insalata Caprese, other things you really can't make with canned tomatoes.

I also know some Italian-Americans from New York City who insist on day-long simmering of tomato sauces. But NYC pizza isn't Italian pizza, either. There is no such thing as pepperoni in Italy, for starters. On the other hand, you can get better olive oil in Italy.

The bottom line is that cooking "Italian" tomato sauces is a lot like cooking chili in that there are several ways to do it and the world is unlikely to unite on which way is "best." When I make tomato sauce, I simmer it a short time, like 5-15 minutes. If I'm making a ragu (which means meat sauce), I simmer it about 30 minutes. I like to let a ragu cool off, even put it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight before reheating and serving. I also add sugar along with the herbs when I'm making the sauce -- and my sauces are all delicious!

Hope your lasagna turned out well! :hi:

[The Zanti Regent]

49. My mom alway put a quart of applesauce in her pasta sauces

Don't know why but it sure tasted OK with me!

[Catshrink]

50. No... just open the jar and heat it up....

works every time.