3-14.5oz cans Hunt's Diced Tomatos with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
2-8oz cans of Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1-5oz can of Hunt's Tomato Paste
1lb of Lean Hamburger (I use 7%)
5-Leaves of Fresh Basil
1-Medium Yellow Onion
3oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use Starr or Bertolli)
5-Individual Cloves of Garlic (fresh only)
6 Quart Pot with lid to make the mess in.
The first step is to put the pot on stove on a low heat, on my stove that is just a few clicks below #2 . Place enough olive oil in the pot to cover the bottom in a thin film. Take the yellow onion and cut it into fine 1/4" x 1/4" pieces. Once the pot is up to heat, place the onions in the pot. The trick here is getting the onions properly carmelized. Too much heat and you'll burn the onions adding an acrid flavor to the mix and not the nice sweet flavor it is supposed to. You will have to turn the onions a few times to get them all nice and cooked. The onions should only slightly react in the pot and not sizzle or dance. It will take some time to properly carmelize the onions.
Once the onions have been fully carmelized and are a nice golden brown, it is time to add the hamburger to the mix. You'll need to bring up the heat a bit at this stage, for me it goes to about a #4 on the dial. WHile the meat is browning I will grab the five or so cloves of garlic and get to work on them. For this step I use a micro food processor to get the garlic minced very small, smaller the better. I use a Cuisanart 4 cup processor to get the garlic finely minced. Which ever way you have available to get it done, make it as fine as you possible can. In the processor I add a bit of the tomato sauce to suspend the garlic for even finer mincing and to get all that garlic juice off the walls and back into suspension.
Once the ground beef is browned and fully cooked I add all the tomato products and give everything a very thorough blending. Once it is all blended I will add 5 leaves of fresh basil, you want the medium sized leaves with the leaf cut at the stem. At this point turn the heat down to a very low simmer, you are trying to stew all the flavors together over a very long time. Keep the lid on as much as possible only stirring every half hour. The steam you release carries with it the cogeners and other flavor molecules so over doing this will actually kill some of the flavor. You want the sauce to just slowly roll and not boil as that will burn the sauce and ruin all the flavor. It usually takes about four hours to stew down the sauce and blend all the flavors, at that point I will remove the lid and allow it to thicken to my liking.
Also, do not use that shitty parmesan cheese in a tube, it is crap, unhealthy and a sacrilege. Buy a wedge of dried parmesan cheese and a fine cheese grater, doing so will reap great benefits in flavor and induce the spaghetti coma that is soon to over come you.
Enjoy,
Fasttrak
2-8oz cans of Hunt's Tomato Sauce
1-5oz can of Hunt's Tomato Paste
1lb of Lean Hamburger (I use 7%)
5-Leaves of Fresh Basil
1-Medium Yellow Onion
3oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use Starr or Bertolli)
5-Individual Cloves of Garlic (fresh only)
6 Quart Pot with lid to make the mess in.
The first step is to put the pot on stove on a low heat, on my stove that is just a few clicks below #2 . Place enough olive oil in the pot to cover the bottom in a thin film. Take the yellow onion and cut it into fine 1/4" x 1/4" pieces. Once the pot is up to heat, place the onions in the pot. The trick here is getting the onions properly carmelized. Too much heat and you'll burn the onions adding an acrid flavor to the mix and not the nice sweet flavor it is supposed to. You will have to turn the onions a few times to get them all nice and cooked. The onions should only slightly react in the pot and not sizzle or dance. It will take some time to properly carmelize the onions.
Once the onions have been fully carmelized and are a nice golden brown, it is time to add the hamburger to the mix. You'll need to bring up the heat a bit at this stage, for me it goes to about a #4 on the dial. WHile the meat is browning I will grab the five or so cloves of garlic and get to work on them. For this step I use a micro food processor to get the garlic minced very small, smaller the better. I use a Cuisanart 4 cup processor to get the garlic finely minced. Which ever way you have available to get it done, make it as fine as you possible can. In the processor I add a bit of the tomato sauce to suspend the garlic for even finer mincing and to get all that garlic juice off the walls and back into suspension.
Once the ground beef is browned and fully cooked I add all the tomato products and give everything a very thorough blending. Once it is all blended I will add 5 leaves of fresh basil, you want the medium sized leaves with the leaf cut at the stem. At this point turn the heat down to a very low simmer, you are trying to stew all the flavors together over a very long time. Keep the lid on as much as possible only stirring every half hour. The steam you release carries with it the cogeners and other flavor molecules so over doing this will actually kill some of the flavor. You want the sauce to just slowly roll and not boil as that will burn the sauce and ruin all the flavor. It usually takes about four hours to stew down the sauce and blend all the flavors, at that point I will remove the lid and allow it to thicken to my liking.
Also, do not use that shitty parmesan cheese in a tube, it is crap, unhealthy and a sacrilege. Buy a wedge of dried parmesan cheese and a fine cheese grater, doing so will reap great benefits in flavor and induce the spaghetti coma that is soon to over come you.
Enjoy,
Fasttrak
The darker the olive oil bottle (not the oil, the actual container), the better (typically). Oh, and use a real pot, like a Le Creuset; or a crock pot (just for simmering it).
