There is no need to ever buy jarred Italian Sauce again! Here is a super easy and wonderfully delicious sauce that you can prepare and add to any pasta meal. Try it with this Braciole that we learned to make in Nonna Anna's kitchen!

Or if you haven't yet tried Nonna Anna's Meatballs and Sauce, now is the time! It is truly the best!

It is wonderfully delicious! Now you can add one more red sauce to your recipe file, Italian Red Sauce - Take 2!

At our Italian cooking day, Nonna Anna wanted us to make another simple red sauce as a complement to the fresh pasta that we were learning to prepare. I was really surprised at how much I loved the sauce, how fun it was to make and how much I felt like we were all in a kitchen in Italy!

Mangia!

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Simple Italian Red Sauce

This authentic and homemade Italian Red Sauce is the perfect gluten-free tomato sauce recipe for any pasta meal on your menu. 

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr 6 mins

Total Time1 hr 21 mins

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Italian Tomato Red Sauce

Servings: 6 cups

Author: Kyle

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 32 ounce cans whole tomatoes , *see Gr8 Note
• 6-8 basil leaves
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Instructions

• In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add onion, garlic, celery and carrot and saute until all vegetables are soft, about 6 minutes.
• While the vegetables are cooking, pour the tomatoes into a bowl and crush with your hands. Discard any hard cores or yellow portions.
• Add the hand crushed tomatoes to the vegetable mixture, then tear the basil leaves into the sauce.
• Reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 1 hour or until thick.
• Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper to your taste.
• If sauce is too acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 Tablespoon at a time, to round out the flavor.
• Using an immersion blender, blend the tomato sauce until smooth.  (To blend the sauce, a food processor or blender can also be used blending only 1/2 of the sauce at a time.)

Notes

Gr8 Note:

• Feel free to use cans of crushed tomatoes (easier!), but please know that the consistency of the sauce may be different.

Gr8 Do-Ahead Tips:

• Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. It will keep well if refrigerated in a sealed container.
• If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and then pour 1 to 2 cup portions into plastic freezer bags. Freeze for up to 6 months and have fresh homemade sauce whenever you like!

Tried this recipe?Mention @Great8Friends or tag #gr8food!

sm 10/17/18