A Sunday Sauce

Ciao!

What do you cook on a Sunday? It’s a day that families usually get together after church or after something you do on a Sunday.

Growing up in a Sicilian family, it was almost law that we would get together at my Nona’s or be cast from the family. Well, maybe not the family, but a few choice uncles and aunts would look down on you for a month or two.

This all leads to what I cooked this past Sunday. Yup, I’m talking about yesterday.

I decided it was a good day to make sausage tomato sauce with spaghetti, so I started the process early in the morning.

I began by frying the sausage so it was almost cooked thoroughly. You want to leave a little to cook in the tomato sauce for flavor.

When I cook sausage for a sauce, I add about 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the frying pan along with basil (a small or large pinch), depending on how much I’m frying. Yesterday, there were more than usual, so it was an extra large pinch.

Once the sausage is ready, I start on the sauce.

This week, I used some vine-ripe tomatoes we had before I added the Cento tomatoes, as seen in the photo: one can of Italian style and one can of San Marzano tomatoes.

If you don’t know about San Marzano tomatoes and why I love them in a sauce, I added the link so you can learn more about them.

The amount of garlic I use depends. It depends on the amount of sauce I’m making that day. I usually decide on who’s having dinner with us. Some of the family likes a lot of garlic, while others don’t want as much as others. It’s a crap shoot when I decide on the amount. You can’t make everyone happy!

After searing the garlic, I add the tomatoes. Before I forget, I add basil, salt, and pepper to the garlic while searing.

Then, it’s time for the tomatoes. I start with the fresh tomatoes, chopped up and ready to go. Once they cook down, I then add the canned tomatoes.

It’s all about a ritual that I learned from my grandmother, grandfather, mom, and a few aunts.

Of course, you can come up with your ritual.

Then, it just cooks all day. I start by boiling the sauce so the sausage cooks the rest of the way and integrates with it.

Then, it’s time to simmer the sauce and stir as needed.

It makes for a great day of thinking about my past and the fun I had learning to cook with family.

Enjoy the sauce and your next Sunday.

By the way, the spices I used were basil and oregano, to taste, followed by salt and pepper.

One last thing. If you have someone who happens to have an issue with acidity, add a slab of butter. It helps with that and also seems to make the sauce much more velvety (grandmother's old trick).

Buon Appetito!