Sunday Sauce with Spaghetti in 6 Easy Steps

Sunday Sauce with Spaghetti

This pasta sauce is quintessential, family comfort food.  Traditionally, nonnas make this on Sunday morning for the Sunday Family Dinner (hence the name), but it can be made any day using the batch cooking method. Just portion, freeze, and serve whenever! Serve your Sunday Sauce with fresh or dried spaghetti or any long noodle including pappardelle, fettuccine, or bucatini.

Prep Time: 45 min, Cook Time: 3 hours, Yield: about 15 pints (2, 16 oz containers serves 6 people)

Ingredients

3 Yellow onion, small dice 109471

5 Carrots, small dice 101180

6 stalks Celery, small dice 109615

2 oz. Extra virgin olive oil 110449

12 garlic cloves, minced 106759

5 lb Diced Angus Chuck Beef 108410

2 lb Mild Italian Sausage Links 109685

1 #10 can Diced tomatoes 110040

5 tbsp Tomato paste 110042

2 cup Red wine

2 cup Chicken stock 100102

1/2 tsp Oregano, dried 108378

2 Bay leaves 108362

Fresh basil, julienne 108587

Kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste 102870, 108553

1 pound dried or fresh spaghetti (serves 4 adults) 109524

(The six digit number that follows each ingredient is the Cheetah sku. Using the Cheetah app, just type it into search, add to your shopping list, and checkout)

Preparation

Step 1

Place onions in bowl of food processor. Pulse until very finely chopped but not puréed. Transfer the onions to a bowl, then add carrots and celery to the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped.

Step 2

Season the beef generously with salt and pepper. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat, and add the beef.  Do not overcrowd the pan, brown off in stages if necessary.  After all the meat is seared, remove all the beef and then add the vegetable mixture and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 8 minutes. Lower the heat if vegetables start to brown. Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping up all the browned bits.  Add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the beef back into pot, add the chicken stock, dried oregano, and bay leaves.  Turn heat down to low and simmer the pasta sauce.  

Step 3

Using a sharp knife, slice through the casing of the sausage lengthwise.  Remove casing and discard.  Add sausage to the pot and stir. 

Step 4

Continue cooking the pasta sauce on low for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  When the beef starts to break apart slightly, turn off the heat and let stand until it cools to room temperature.  Resist the temptation to keep stirring as you don’t want to shred the meat to oblivion.  Sunday Sauce is best when there is some shredded meat and some chunks.  

Step 5

Portion the Sunday Sauce into 16 oz deli containers and place the pasta sauce in the freezer, NO LIDS! After 1 hour, give each portion a good stir. Using a meat thermometer, check the temperature of the pasta sauce.  It’s safe to add lids when the temperature is below 35 degrees.  Will be good in the freezer for no more than 60 days.

Step 6

If you froze your portions, remove the Sunday Sauce from the freezer and put in the refrigerator the day before serving to allow for proper thawing.  

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add a fistful of salt. Cook pasta according to package.  Heat up the Sunday Sauce in large pan, season with salt and pepper to taste.  If it’s too thick, add some pasta water to thin out.  When pasta is cooked, add to sauce, stir well to coat the pasta.

Garnish the Sunday Sauce with basil and pecorino romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  

Serve immediately.  Mangia Bene!