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The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants.

This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance.

Family Secrets #10

Spaghetti Sauce - Red and Marinara

By Ray Zara, La Lama Mountain Ovens

Let me begin by saying that when I make a batch of spaghetti sauce, I make a big batch. I will use what is needed the day that it is made and put the rest up in multiple freezer containers. I usually put enough in the freezer to prepare 3 to 4 meals for 4 diners each.

In years gone by, my mother made the proper amount of meatballs in proportion to the amount of sauce. She browned the meatballs in an old black iron skillet and finished them in the sauce. The sauce she made was excellent, however the fats from the cooking meatballs were infused into the sauce. Some families did not brown the meatballs, preferring instead to put them into the sauce directly. This also resulted in a high fat sauce but produced a softer meatball. I prefer to do neither of the above. I make meatballs in large batches, cook them off in the oven, cool them on a wire rack so as much fat as possible drips off, and then bag them in portions that are frozen for use at a later date. Armed with sauce in the freezer and meatballs in the freezer a nice spaghetti dinner can become a rather simple chore.

Color, viscosity and flavor are the three important goals to accomplish in order to make a superior spaghetti sauce. Three items that are very popular in many sauce recipes are sugar, wine and tomato paste. I use none of these in my sauce recipe. Sugar will slightly darken the sauce as it caramelizes during the cooking process. Using a good grade of tomatoes with the proper blend of vegetables and herbs makes the artificial use of sugar in the sauce unnecessary. Spaghetti sauce that is cooked properly will not need to be thickened by using tomato paste, which has a bitter, pungent taste. While I enjoy wine with spaghetti, I prefer it in a glass, not in the sauce. The tannin in red wine will darken the sauce considerably. The addition of a small amount of a dry white wine is an option that you can take if you feel that the finished sauce needs it.

One of the kitchen implements that I use to prepare my spaghetti sauce is a food mill. For those of you who do not have this kitchen tool, I will give instructions on how to make the same sauce using a food processor. The advantage of the food mill is that it removes the fibrous membranes from vegetables as they pass through. It is also faster and less messy than dealing with the food processor.

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Raymond's Spaghetti Sauce (Approx 4-5 qts.)

Total ingredients:

Step One: Sauté

Place the first five ingredients in a heavy bottom sauce pan, 8 quart capacity or larger. Sauté over medium heat until the meat is lightly browned and the vegetables begin to soften.

Step Two: First Simmer

Add the bay leaves, the # 10 can of whole tomatoes and the can of crushed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to maintain a medium simmer. Stir frequently and hold simmer for 2 hours.

Step Three: Second Simmer

Add the two cans of Hunts tomato sauce and the salt. Without changing the heat source bring back to a simmer and hold for another hour. Commercial tomato sauces are all spiced differently. I specify Hunts because their flavor is an integral part of the sauce we are making.

Step Four: Pass Through the Food Mill

Remove the short ribs from the cooked sauce and while the sauce is still hot place your food mill over another sauce pan. Fill the food mill with the cooked sauce and crank the mill clockwise and counterclockwise until the mill is empty. Keep repeating this process until all the sauce has been passed though the mill. You will notice at this point a substantial amount of fibrous material clinging to the bottom of the mill plate. You do not want this in the sauce. The short ribs becomes the "cook’s lunch."

Using a food processor

Step One: Puree the Vegetables

With the blade attachment, puree the onions, carrots, garlic and celery.

Step Two: Sauté Vegetables and Short Ribs

Place the vegetables in a large sauce pot and add the short ribs, sauté until ribs are browned.

Step Three: Process Whole Tomatoes

With the blade attachment in, load the processor with whole tomatoes and pulse very lightly. Take great care that you don’t over process the whole tomatoes. All that is necessary is a couple of pops on the pulse button. If you notice a change in color of the tomatoes you have over done them. Continue processing until you have all the tomatoes done. Place the tomatoes into the sauce pot including all the juice from the can.

Step Four: First Simmer

Wrap the bay leaves in cheesecloth forming a small garni bag, add the can of crushed tomatoes and bring mixture to a medium simmer. Hold simmer for 2 hours stirring often.

Step Five: Second Simmer

After two hours add the two cans of Hunts tomato sauce and the salt. Again, Hunts is spiced for the flavor we are looking for in this sauce. Let the sauce return to a simmer and let cook for another hour. Remove the short ribs and the garni bag containing the bay leaves. The sauce is now ready to serve

Marinara Sauce

While we are on the subject of red sauces, we might as well cover another all time standard called "Marinara Sauce". The name is loosely translated as the sauce of the mariners. It is a meatless sauce that was used extensively on sailing ships before the advent of refrigeration. The absence of meat and the simplicity of the sauce was especially appealing to the cooks on board because the high acid content of the sauce and the lack of fat resulted in a sauce that resisted spoiling.

The marinara sauce that we will be making here is a very light sauce. It cooks for a short time because little reduction is needed. Reduction is accomplished in the pan depending on what application you want to use it for. I use this sauce as a basic mother red sauce and its uses range from saucing a dish of angel hair to deglazing a sauté pan with Madeira wine. When using madeira wine to deglaze a sauté pan, a tablespoon or two of this sauce adds a nice touch to the end result. Reduction is also accomplished in the pan when making dishes such as shrimp marinara or mussels marinara. One fault I have found with a lot of cookbook recipes for this classic sauce is that they become too complex. The beauty of this sauce is its simplicity. Our goal is to make a sauce where the natural taste of good tomatoes is the dominant taste. The classic marinara is made with the best of the season’s fresh tomatoes. Lacking these, an acceptable marinara may be made using canned tomatoes, but it will not approach the "taste of summer" as if made with fresh.

Raymond's Marinara sauce

Total Ingredients:

• 5 Lbs. vine ripened fresh tomatoes or 1 No. 10 can whole tomatoes (6Lbs. 6 oz. size)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 9 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
• 1 Tblsp. salt

Step One: Prepare Tomatoes

If fresh, finely chop in processor or by hand. If canned, pass the tomatoes through a food mill or gently pulse them until coarsely chopped in food processor.

Step Two: Prepare Oil and Garlic

Put the olive oil and mashed garlic in heavy bottomed sauce pan and sauté lightly. Do not burn garlic or it will be bitter.

Step Three: Add Tomatoes

Add tomatoes and juices to the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Slowly simmer for ten minutes.

Step Four: Finish

Add chopped basil and salt. Stir well and remove from heat source. Let steep for 15 minutes.

This sauce will freeze well and will keep for at least a week under refrigeration. It is a study in simplicity and doubles not only as a mother red sauce, but also as a tasty sauce for pastas and marinara type dishes.

Altitude adjustments: Add 20 minutes cooking time at 8,000 feet.