WoodfordReserve-Neat's Semi-Homade Marinara Sauce

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

OK, I admit it,
BigBull's latest crock pot post inspired this as it is a quick and cost efficient meal without a lot of work or trouble and it is "good eats" to me.

First let me say, I love family, vintage shaving, good spirits, good food and the other one I won't mention because I know the mods don't allow 'Saw Mill' talk in here.... . But above above all , GOD.

My children's great grandparents came into the US via Ellis Island from Italy and could not speak English. ( I love those Italian gals) They are a spirited breed of women that I find very appealing. My Italian mother in law makes a sauce from scratch that inspired this quickie one. She, also, makes a delicious Puttanesca sauce along with her other great Italian recipes.

- enough chit chat.


I grind my own pork ahead of time and freeze 10 oz packages for convenience. I buy a pork loin when on sale - you can use any cut that suits you. ( I usually buy 10 LBS or more when on sale...lot cheaper than the price of ground hamburger that way )

WoodfordReserve-Neat's Semi Homeade Marinara meat sauce © ◄

Ingredience used:
Just remember, this is US semi-homemade and not meant to be homemade Italian like my mother-in-law would make from scratch.

1 - large jar of Preggo ORIGINAL spaghetti sauce ( Preggo is a good acidity balanced sauce for the base, IMO.) but use what you like.
1 - heaping tbsp of red pepper flakes ( leave it out if you don't like it on the Ariabiata side )
10 0z - of ground pork - better than beef hamburger to me...I think that Publix has ground pork. Most stores don't as they are afraid of cross contamination..so they say. Again, I grind my own.
Fresh garlic cloves. I don,t measure but use a press and prob 4 or 5 cloves- depends on the size.
Handful - Fresh, Italian flat leaf Basil ( the just picked kind- my wife grows it ) I roll the leaves together and slice them in strips you can tear them.
Parmigiano-Reggiano shaved... They don't call it the king of cheeses for nothing. Use reg Parmesian if you like it..lot cheaper.
Extra virgin olive oil

Cooking:
Put on a pot of water to boil for the spaghetti . I add about a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt to the water.
(I like my spaghetti Al Dente, as the sauce is really just the 'condimento' for it, IMO.)
In a large skillet put in some olive oil and crushed garlic and heat. Next, add the ground pork to brown and stir - The ground pork is about 90/10 lean for me and grease draining is not required.

Next I put the spaghetti in the boiling water and stir occasionally (until Al Dente).
I add the sauce to the seasoned ground pork and stir. If needed, I add some of the pasta water to the sauce to thin it some. I toss in the pepper flakes stir and cover it to just simmer on a low temp while the spaghetti is cooking and stir it occasionally.

Serve:
I use a warmed large shallow bowl and put a little of the sauce in and add some spaghetti. Toss it to coat the spaghetti and add some more sauce then more spaghetti and stir/toss together again, and so on. (I never put a plate of plain cooked spaghetti on a plate and pour spaghetti sauce over it . (You do as you like )

All the while, I am tossing in some of my fresh basil to wilt while tossing all of the ingredients together. Now I have a nice bowl of lightly coated pasta with my sauce and the wilted basil.

I plate up the lightly sauce coated spaghetti, put a little extra sauce on top. Take out my cheese grater and shave some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. em! em ...I love that cheese!
I like to pair it with some nice Chianti Wine...( drink the wine that you like - as Justin Wilson would say) My SWMBO has me on a low carb diet so, I really miss my garlic bread.

Its really much easier to make than it sounds, I am just not good at conveying a recipe....

While I'm at it, My salad dressing recipe that i like...Semi Homemade, too.

WoodfordReserve-Neat's Semi Homeade Salad Dressing ©◄

Get a "Good Seasons" package with the carafe if needed. I use 1/2 balsamic to 1/2 unseasoned rice vinegar, good olive oil and mix by the little measurements on the carafe as directed. ( to me the vinegar mix has just the perfect acidity for my taste buds....

Bon Appetit

Revised 9/14/12..
I hope this revision makes it a little easier to understand ?

It still needs to be condensed more in a simpler recipe style....I admit it, brevity does not seem to be my strong point. I like to incorporate a little humor in my post/reps and hopefully make it a little more interesting to read ? I have a communication break down sometimes with humor due to the demographics of the entire world that seems to be represented in B&B.
I shall try to restrain myself in the future, as pertinent info, although, sometimes boring is probably a much better approach...damn, I'm getting long winded again

 

[superbleu]

This this type of thread requires pictures!!!!

 

[mikeon]

^ and a glass of wine

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

This this type of thread requires pictures!!!!

The next time that I cook some maybe I will take a photo or two and try to condense the recipe for an easier understanding.
It really is a simple and nice semi-homemade 'gravy' to me and the feed back from others has been flattering. (blush)

I do variations and substitute the ground pork with:

Shrimp - I will put some olive oil and crushed garlic in a skillet, heat it up and add a little Vermouth and butter.
Then add the shrimp after heating the mixture and salt lightly. Let it cook for about a min. then take off the heat and let rest.
I will add the shrimp about 2 to 3 minutes before sauce is ready to serve so they will still be nice and tender...I try not to overcook the shrimp by dumping them in to early as they get will get too tough.....

I also use Italian sausage, clams or mussels instead of the pork. I have even used crayfish......(crawfish) instead of the ground pork. I like the Johnsonville Italian sausages.


Although this one is not my recipe, I really like this one of Mario Batali's- very simple and very romantic for two.
Warning to you younger guys, this recipe may result in an addition to your family....or child support, whichever


Spaghetti con Pomodoro



Mario Batali's Recipe

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp hot chili flakes (or red pepper flakes)
1 lb heirloom tomatoes, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes, with all the juices
12 basil leaves, torn in half
1/2 lb spaghetti

Boil six quarts of water with 2 tbsp salt. Meanwhile, heat a 10- to 12-inch saute pan over medium heat and add the oil, garlic, and chili flakes. Cook until garlic is golden brown, about one minute.

Dump tomatoes in saute pan and bring to a splashy boil (about five minutes). Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook one minute less than the package instructions suggest. Drain the pasta in a colander, toss into the pan with the tomato mixture, and place over medium-high heat.

Toss for 30 seconds, add basil, and toss again. Pour into a warmed salad bowl. Grate Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste, dim the lights, and serve with two forks.

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

^ and a glass of wine

In Vino Veritas,
I like a plain ole Burgundy table wine with this.
Also, Cabernet Sauvignon, Médoc, Good Chianti, of course. Basically, whatever I have on hand...

 

[ouch]

In Vino Veritas,
I like a plain ole Burgundy table wine with this.
Also, Cabernet Sauvignon, Médoc, Good Chianti, of course. Basically, whatever I have on hand...

The rule of thumb for wine is to drink simple but good wine with great food, and great wine with simple but good food.

As for your semi homemade sauce, I learned to cook a proper sauce decades ago using the 'stone soup' method. I added ingredients to bottled supermarket sauce. First came onion and garlic. Then I learned to add spices- pepper, oregano, basil. Then I added crushed tomatoes. Before I knew it, I realized that I had a better sauce by omitting the bottled sauce.

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

The rule of thumb for wine is to drink simple but good wine with great food, and great wine with simple but good food.

As for your semi homemade sauce, I learned to cook a proper sauce decades ago using the 'stone soup' method. I added ingredients to bottled supermarket sauce. First came onion and garlic. Then I learned to add spices- pepper, oregano, basil. Then I added crushed tomatoes. Before I knew it, I realized that I had a better sauce by omitting the bottled sauce.

I make one from scratch, too. But I was fearful that I might crash the server by listing/explaining all of the ingredients that I use.

 

[LegendofVogel]

I have to admit that seeing your name in the title, I thought this recipe would contain bourbon.

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

I have to admit that seeing your name in the title, I thought this recipe would contain bourbon.

It does.....but only in the cook.
This recipe can be thrown together and plated in about 30 min. Its easy to make after coming home from a hard day at work and just toss this together. A quickly improvised delicious meal, IMO.

 

[Mike H]

I dated an Italian girl in college, her great aunt would make a similar sauce, poured over sliced polenta, and served with a wilted leaf lettuce salad when we would visit. I had not thought about that in a long time. Sounds delicious.

 

[Indigo3]

Sorry bud each to his own but you really lost me with the extra lean pork as if thats a good thing?!! The point of ragout is to extract the flavor of meat and with extra lean you'll have little of that, if it's for health reasons you can just as easily remove the fat by skimming the sauce or better still keep it and stir it in for maximum richness and flavor.

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

I dated an Italian girl in college, her great aunt would make a similar sauce, poured over sliced polenta, and served with a wilted leaf lettuce salad when we would visit. I had not thought about that in a long time. Sounds delicious.

That one sounds good to me.

I like to take just some fresh baked bread and dip it in the sauce, too...
I have a lot of hand me down "Old Country" Italian recipes from my mother in law...but, I usually need about a day to make a "proper" sauce because I make it in bulk and freeze it in portions. Lotta work/time/ingredients to do an "Old Country" Italian recipe and its just not worth it for just a one time meal to me. Just finely grating the carrots needed would would take longer than this whole semi-homemade recipe....which was the whole gist for this quickie...not that I went to some culinary school to learn how to make it...Duh

Johnny Carson once said that the first time his dad let him use the car for a date it was with an Italian girl.
He said that he knew he had it made when he pulled into her driveway. "Because the rubber dice hanging from the mirror rolled a 7 ".

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

Sorry bud each to his own but you really lost me with the extra lean pork as if thats a good thing?!! The point of ragout is to extract the flavor of meat and with extra lean you'll have little of that, if it's for health reasons you can just as easily remove the fat by skimming the sauce or better still keep it and stir it in for maximum richness and flavor.

Why of course,
Lean to me is like about 90/10. I think it would be hard to find a loin any leaner than that ?
And your right. I do have to watch out for the 'health" thing, too. I take a Cholesterol med.. so health is a part of the reason. But ground pork tastes so much better than hamburger to me. Using it this way still leaves just a little of the pork fat mixed with the olive oil and saves the draining step. At one time I did actually drain the meat but found this way to be quicker. And quickness/convenience is what this little ditty was meant to be.
Can you get ground pork at a franchise super market where you live ? I have to grind mine. I think Publix has started grinding pork but stores like Winn Dixie have told me that they can't do it because of cross contamination... Anyway, I catch the meat on sale and grind about 10 LBS at a time and freeze it in weighed 10 oz amounts. 10 oz is really a small amount for the amount of sauce, so it makes for a light bolognese sauce to me.

 

[Indigo3]

Burger meat could be anything thats true but loin, thats going from one extreme to the other. A well trimmed pork butt/shoulder will probably give you a similar ratio, cost less and much better suited for grinding. If I need a quick fix I'd rather use the meat from inside a good quality sausage which is already seasoned and ground instead of purchasing pre-ground pork.

 

[WoodfordReserve-Neat]

If I need a quick fix I'd rather use the meat from inside a good quality sausage which is already seasoned and ground instead of purchasing pre-ground pork.

By all means, please do.
I like the Johnsonville Sausages myself. They even have the Italian sausage in bulk packs too, I believe ?

 

[sychodelix]

Nice and simple with fresh basil and garlic and plenty of cheese. Sounds good to me!