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A basic Italian Spaghetti Sauce rich, savory, full of flavor and so easy to make. Simple basic ingredients, fresh tomatoes or your own homegrown canned tomatoes. A traditional basic Italian Spaghetti Sauce is perfect over your favorite pasta or even over spiralized zucchini noodles.

Check out my recipe for Beginners Canning Homegrown Tomatoes.  Even if you get your tomatoes at your local farmer’s market, you will have the perfect tomatoes to make your perfect spaghetti sauce.

My husband Jim’s family, The Buonpanes has been making this recipe for 70 years from his parents and from his father’s mother for years before that. Making a simple sauce over pasta is a budget-friendly easy meal that kids and adults love.  Once you try a simple pasta sauce your family will ask for it over and over again. You will get to where you will make this your own and not even need the recipe.

Step by Step Simple Sauce

• In a large saucepan add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
• Chopped one medium onion and add to the pot along with one green and/or red pepper.
• After the peppers and onions have softened add 1 to 2 cloves of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of dried basil and a tablespoon of dried oregano. The longer you cook the onions, peppers, garlic, and herbs, the better the sauce tastes and some of our family members even like this a little burnt.
• When you are satisfied with the sautéed vegetables, add 1 to 2 jars of the homemade canned stewed tomatoes. (you can substitute store-bought canned tomatoes chopped or pureed)
• Add one can of tomato paste, along with a little salt and pepper. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
•  (You can enhance your sauce with 1 tablespoon of beef bowl Jan crystals and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, depending on your taste.   The same sauce can have cooked sausage added to it and cooked and or cooked meatballs. However, these changes make it not vegetarian)

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Supplies Needed:

• Stock Pot
• Silicone Spatula Set
• Stainless Steel Colander
• Ladle
• Beautiful White Serving Bowls
• Beautiful White Pasta Bowls

Jim’s Sister Anita’s Memories of the Garden and Canning 

“Memories of the Garden
My dad dug for days to break the soil down to the right consistency. Then he would take a small rake and break up the clumps that were left.  The soil was brought to a fine particle dirt consistency and then the planting began.  The bigger garden always consisted of Roma tomatoes, peppers, and a few beefsteaks or big boy tomato plants.  The smaller garden was planted with several types of lettuce with some arugula.

Memories of Canning
My mom and dad purchased bushels of tomatoes for canning at the local farmer’s market so that they could supplement what they grew in their garden and produce an adequate supply of canned tomatoes for the next year.  They brought the tomatoes home and carefully placed them in the sink to be blanched with boiling water.  I have memories of my mom carefully warning us to stay away while she was pouring the boiling water over the tomatoes.  The blanching process was short and helped to start the tomato skinning process.  My sister and I helped my mom to fully skin all of the tomatoes and my mom would cut the tomatoes up for the canning kettle.  When the kettle was full, it was placed on the stove to cook down for several hours.  While the tomatoes were cooking, the mason jars, rubber rings, and lids were in another kettle boiling as part of the sanitation process. When the tomatoes were ready, they were ladled into the mason jars, the rims of the mason jars wiped clean and the rubber ring and kids placed.  The final step of fully tightening the mason jar lids was completed by my dad so that they were airtight and there would be no possibility of any contamination.”

I hope you find the time to experiment with canning tomatoes from your garden or ones from the local farmer’s market.