Here’s the deal. You’ gonna’ make this spaghetti, see? You’ gonna’ do it right this time. You’ gonna make the sauce slow with the good tomatoes, and yeh NOT gonna buy that ketchup water in the jar, SEE? If I have to say this to ya’s again, there’s gonna be some trouble that we BOTH know you don’t want. Got it?
There’s two kinds of spaghetti sauces in the world. The good kind, and the kind you’re buying in the jar at the store. I don’t care if you think that jar is convenient. I don’t care if making your sauce with whole tomatoes is intimidating. I don’t care if you “doctor” it once you get it home. Your jars of spaghetti sauce suck. You should throw all of them away right now. Go on, I’ll wait. Throw them in the garbage. Feed them to the dog. Get them out of your life, you don’t need that kind of negative flavor.
Today we’re going to make the most venerable of spaghetti sauces– meaty red sauce. There’s a lot of technique to this one, so don’t skip the details. Here’s what you’ll need:
Meaty Red Sauce:
- 1 lb Ground Meat (Beef, Pork, Veal, or a combination of any of those three)
- 1-1.5 Cups Stock (Beef, Chicken, Pork, Vegetable, Etc)
- 1- 28oz Can of San Marzano Whole Tomatoes*
- 1 Small Onion, Diced
- 6 Cloves Garlic, Riced, Diced, or Thinly Sliced
- 1- 8 oz Can of Tomato Sauce
- 1-3 Teaspoons Each of Dried Herbs: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Oregano
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Black Cracked Pepper
- 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- A Few Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese
*A note about San Marzano Tomatoes: The USA doesn’t regulate the veracity of tomatoes actually grown in the San Marzano region of Italy. Most brands contain fakes. A few ways to tell:
- San Marzanos are always sold as whole, peeled tomatoes
- The real stuff has a seal and a batch number
- They will say “Pomodoro S. Marzano dell’Agro Sarnese-Nocerino D.O.P.” on the can rather than “San Marzano Tomatoes.” Like this:
The technique here is pretty important, so pay attention:
Splash some olive oil in a sauce pot. Add the meat, browning it to develop some fond on the bottom of the pan. Season the meat with salt and pepper and a pinch of each herb, as well as a pinch of garlic powder. Once cooked, remove meat and drain. Set meat aside.
THIS IS WHAT FOND LOOKS LIKE:
Another splash of olive oil in the pan. Add onions, sauteing them until just translucent and not yet brown. Then toss in the garlic for 15 seconds before deglazing the fond by pouring in your stock. Feel free to splash in some red wine if you want at this point too. Scrape the fond off the bottom of the pot by stirring with a metal whisk. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
Tomato time. Pour the entirety of the contents of your whole peeled tomato can into the pot, be careful not to splash because it’s lava. The reason we used the fancy tomatoes is because they taste amazing and smash really well into a sauce. You can smash them with the back of your spoon, with a potato masher, or by smooshing them with the bottom of a metal whisk. However you do it, also add the can of tomato sauce, re-add the meat, and the rest of the herbs and spices. Don’t forget the salt and pepper.
Next, we bring the whole thing back up to a boil, and then turn the heat down to a simmer. You want bubbles, but not explosions. We’re going to let it simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every 5. This is also a good time to put your pasta water on to boil, as you want the pasta and the sauce to finish at the same time. If you’re making garlic bread, you can use the waiting to prep that for the broiler, and be sure to have your fresh grated parm ready to go too.
When 30 minutes are up, and the pasta is cooked and drained, it’s time to plate. PASTA IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SERVED NAKED. The pasta and the sauce should always meet before they end up on your plate. I’m not saying you can’t add more sauce on the top once it’s plated, but if you put naked pasta on a plate and pour sauce over it you should probably go get your jars back out of the trash because you’ve missed the point.
To plate spaghetti nicely– twist the noodles into a pile as they hit the plate. Top with extra sauce and lots of fresh parm. Make it look good, you eat with your eyes too. Remember, cheese comes from a block, not from a bag. The only reason to take that green plastic cylinder of Parmesan-flavored lies out of your fridge is to throw it in the garbage with the rest of the jars of evil.
One final note: don’t let people serve themselves from the pot like heathens. You will be tempted to, because this is a lot of work. You went to all the trouble, you should portion it out on each plate all nice. Make ’em sit at the table and watch. The anticipation makes it taste better.
Christian McCall 