For the record: Any and all generic brands can be used for all ingredients except the Great Value brand peeled, crushed tomatoes in puree. The texture is just not right.
Melissa's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 large can (I'll check the amount) tomato juice
- 1 medium, short and fat sized can (" ") peeled, crushed tomatoes in puree
- 2 small (or 1 regular size) cans tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp oregano leaves
- 2 -3 (depending on the size) cloves minced garlic (it must be fresh or it will not be even half as good!)
- 3 -4 tbsp parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- (Sometimes I also add a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. If the mood strikes me. I'm not sure how much of a difference that even makes because I've made it without more times than with and can't seem to tell the difference. It just makes me feel chef-like, I guess.)
Directions:
[*If you don't want to piss off the person who cleans up after dinner, I recommend two things. First, clear anything on your counter tops about a foot and a half away from the pot on the stove and use the deepest pot you've got. It's a pain in the neck to clean up the carnage (as Trav calls it) off of things like the tea kettle and baking canisters, but the extra deep pot helps. I don't know how many quarts mine is, but it's literally at least 12 inches deep. I would check but I'm on a roll here and don't feel like getting up.]
Combine all ingredients in a deep pot on the stove over medium heat. (I do not, under any circumstances, recommend a heat higher than that to save time. The one time I turned it to high, I burned the sauce on the bottom of the pot so badly that it took me (LITERALLY) 2 weeks of scrubbing with a steel wool pad and soaking in extremely hot water and soap to get it clean. Not worth it.) Bring to a bubble (it's not quite a boil) and stir very often for around 20 minutes. The goal here is to cook out a lot of the water to thicken the sauce. Turn down to low for 3 hours. Stir every 30 minutes or so. Makes enough for a pound of pasta one night, a pound of raviolis another night, enough to top 1 1/2 pounds of Chicken Parmesan, and even a little that I never quite use up. It freezes well, too. Definitely budget friendly!
Melissa's Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1lb ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 -1 c bread crumbs
- 1/2 - 3/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 clove minced garlic (again, it must be fresh garlic!)
- 1/4 c parsley
- 1 tsp ground oregano, if you so desire (Sometimes I add it, sometimes I don't. Again, just depends on my mood.)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together by hand. Roll into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cook over medium heat in a nonstick pan until cooked through. (I don't add any oil...they render their own fat.) Honestly, I still don't know how long I cook them. I think around 20-25 minutes? I usually keep turning them and cooking them until all sides look a little too done. Then, I cut one open to see that they are a consistent gray color all the way through, and not any lighter in the center. Then I let them hang out in between paper towels to get the excess fat off. (Same as you would with your breakfast bacon.) Last, I put 'em in that sauce and scoop out a giant helpingt to top my pasta. Yum-my. Now I'm hungry.
