How Donna’s Sauce Became Steve’s Spaghetti
When I was younger I could never get tomato sauce right; it was always thin and watery. I tried fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato puree…it just wasn’t right. I gave up, in part because almost every strip mall on Long Island, where I live, has an Italian restaurant and everyone has their favorite red sauce joint. I didn’t feel the need to make my own.
But at some point, I realized that I should probably learn how to make a proper tomato sauce. I asked my wife’s friend, Donna, about her secret for the perfect Italian sauce. She graciously invited me into her kitchen for a cooking lesson, and I learned to cook thick, Italian tomato sauce. (Thank you Donna – and probably her Nonna!) She also schooled me in meatballs and braciole.
My father-in-law, Steve, lived in Randolph, Massachusetts, where he loved the Italian restaurant La Scala – regularly eating there once or twice a week. He entered through the back door to the kitchen, to give his regards to the chef, like a scene in Goodfellas. He always ordered Steve’s spaghetti, which the chef Bobby, made especially for him. It was a Bolognese-type sauce, with ground beef, mushrooms, peppers, a lot of slivered garlic, and extra tomato sauce.
Over the years, the sauce Donna taught me to cook morphed into Steve’s spaghetti. It wasn’t exactly the same as what Donna taught me, or that at La Scala, but every time he visited, I knew what my father-in-law wanted for dinner. As he got older and couldn’t make his way to the restaurant, he relied on my sauce. He especially liked the hot Italian sausages I tucked into the bottom of each container I made for him. In his last year I cooked and froze sauce for him and my mother-in-law; it provided them with sustenance and satisfaction. I like to think that my version of Donna’s sauce and Steve’s spaghetti, made him happy at the end of his life. Steve passed several months ago, so I offer Donna’s Sauce and Steve’s Spaghetti in his honor.
Donna’s Sauce and Steve’s Spaghetti
I make this sauce with ground beef and spicy Italian sausages. However, one could just as easily use meatballs, braciole, or no meat at all. If you are using ground beef and sausages, brown them separately while you are starting the sauce. Add them to the sauce any time after you add the crushed tomatoes to the pot.
2 hours, 9 servings
1½ lbs. ground beef, browned and drained of excess oil
9 hot or sweet Italian sausages, browned
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled, 3 slivered and 2 pressed
3-28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp. pesto (or a handful fresh basil, chopped)
1½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup red wine
- Heat a heavy skillet on high. Sprinkle in the ground beef and allow it to sit for a few minutes until one side is browned. Stir and brown the other side. When done, break it into small pieces and drain as much of the grease as possible. Set aside in a separate bowl. If the meat is not fully cooked through, don’t worry, it will continue to cook in the sauce.
- In the same skillet – no need to clean it – sear the sausages on all sides over a medium-high heat. Once done, set them aside with the browned ground beef. Again, since the sausages will continue to cook in the sauce, it is okay if they are not fully cooked.
- In a large, heavy stockpot heat the olive oil on medium. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the slivered garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about three minutes until soft and the onions are lightly brown around the edges.
- Add the pressed garlic, stir, and cook for just a minute, so that the pressed garlic does not brown and become bitter.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, swirling a little water in each can to get every bit of sauce and add it to the pot. Stir in the pesto or basil, sugar, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and red wine.
- Add the browned ground beef and seared sausages.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer, stirring frequently for about an hour. Since the sauce has cheese in it, it can stick to the pot. Frequent stirring keeps this to a minimum.
- This sauce can be used immediately, although it is better if it sits in the refrigerator for a day. It also freezes beautifully, with a couple of sausages tucked into each container.
