Spaghetti Sauce Question

Becca said:

When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as one of the
vegetables in your sauce?

BTW, one of my Italian friends calls it "gravy", not sauce, so my
apologies to those who call it gravy.

Artichoke hearts (not marinated) are fun to add to spag sauce now-and-
then.

Karen

(Steve Pope) said:

Celery can go into either spaghetti sauce or chili, but to
my mind either runs into the "unauthentic", and the practices
probably originated by food service companies motivated by cheapness
(school cafeterias etc.)

Still, if the celery is the only veg on hand, I'll throw it
in. After destringing/chopping.

I knew a lady (our kids were in swimming lessons together and we
talked recipes) who was Jewish and was from Italy. She made her
marinara sauce with diced carrots and celery and other vegs I can't
remember but probably garlic and onion and tomato.

The part that I remember the most is that she strained it in the end.
I have always wanted to try that but always leave it chunky.

Karen

Becca said:

When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as one of the
vegetables in your sauce?

Do you mean when making a tomato based sauce? I don't do it routinely,
but I have been known to at times. Is that a non-answer? lol
Mine vary routinely based on what is on hand as well as what I'll be
using it for.

Puester said:

Tomato, onion, garlic, green or red pepper. Usually meatballs
and/or Italian sausage. Basil, oregano, fennel, marjoram. Fresh
Italian parsley if I have it. Simmer all afternoon, at least two hours
or it tastes raw like most restaurant pasta sauces. Even better the
next day.

Green peppers are one thing I never add to my tomato sauces. I just
don't care for it or it reminds me too much of a pizza, I dunno?
But I have included roasted red peppers (either diced or pureed) in
various tomato sauces at times with good results.

Dimitri said:

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

I don't think there are any rules for making tomato sauce for

Quoted message said:

pasta... use whatever you like and/or have on hand... sometimes a
primavera with eggplant, zuke, and often celery... also rich with
anchovy, capers, and olive puttanesca is yummy... there's no rule
about adding celery or not.

Sheldon

You Da Man.... once again right on the money.

Dimitri

I concur! Except I dislike green peppers in a sauce, particularly a
longer cooked one. I like to make chunky sauces with diced zucchini
included during the winter when they're a hearty sauce is so comforting.
The absolute best sauce I ever had once was when my father came to visit
me late one night in Germany. No shops open, so he used what was on hand
to make the most incredible fresh tomato sauce using a small amount of
dry cured pepperoni as well the standard onion, garlic, herbs,etc. It
was incredible! I had friends over that night who were just amazed that
such simple ingredients and not overly long cooking could yield such
wonderful results.

Karen said:

Artichoke hearts (not marinated) are fun to add to spag sauce now-and-
then.

Karen

Black olives (ripe, pitted, small and whole) are wonderful too. I often
do a meatless tomato sauce using them.

Karen said:

I knew a lady (our kids were in swimming lessons together and we
talked recipes) who was Jewish and was from Italy. She made her
marinara sauce with diced carrots and celery and other vegs I can't
remember but probably garlic and onion and tomato.

The part that I remember the most is that she strained it in the end.
I have always wanted to try that but always leave it chunky.

you could try using an immersion blender ("the boat motor" we call it)
to puree it. I wouldn't want to strain it because of the removal of
chunks would be a removal of flavor as well as nutritious bits.

kilikini said:

I'm not a green-pepper-in-my-tomato-sauce fan, either. The flavor of the
pepper overcomes the flavor of the tomato & garlic, IMO. I also dislike
green pepper used in New England clam chowder; I don't understand why some
people do that.

I can't imagine? Sounds dreadful and overpowering to me. I love peppers,
but they do not belong in everything.

Goomba38 said:

Puester said:

Tomato, onion, garlic, green or red pepper. Usually meatballs
and/or Italian sausage. Basil, oregano, fennel, marjoram. Fresh
Italian parsley if I have it. Simmer all afternoon, at least two
hours or it tastes raw like most restaurant pasta sauces. Even
better the next day.

Green peppers are one thing I never add to my tomato sauces. I just
don't care for it or it reminds me too much of a pizza, I dunno?
But I have included roasted red peppers (either diced or pureed) in
various tomato sauces at times with good results.

I'm not a green-pepper-in-my-tomato-sauce fan, either. The flavor of the
pepper overcomes the flavor of the tomato & garlic, IMO. I also dislike
green pepper used in New England clam chowder; I don't understand why some
people do that.

kili

Goomba38 said:

kilikini said:

I'm not a green-pepper-in-my-tomato-sauce fan, either. The flavor
of the pepper overcomes the flavor of the tomato & garlic, IMO. I
also dislike green pepper used in New England clam chowder; I don't
understand why some people do that.

I can't imagine? Sounds dreadful and overpowering to me. I love
peppers, but they do not belong in everything.

Cooked, they belong in fajitas, raw, in salads and that's all I'll do. :~)

kili

Steve Wertz said:

Becca said:

When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as one of the
vegetables in your sauce?

If I were use celery, it would be very
finely chopped after being deveined.

Deveined... didn't you mean circumcised?

Sheldon

kilikini said:

Goomba38 said:

Puester said:

Tomato, onion, garlic, green or red pepper. Usually meatballs
and/or Italian sausage. Basil, oregano, fennel, marjoram. Fresh
Italian parsley if I have it. Simmer all afternoon, at least two
hours or it tastes raw like most restaurant pasta sauces. Even
better the next day.

Green peppers are one thing I never add to my tomato sauces. I just
don't care for it or it reminds me too much of a pizza, I dunno?
But I have included roasted red peppers (either diced or pureed) in
various tomato sauces at times with good results.

I'm not a green-pepper-in-my-tomato-sauce fan, either. The flavor of the
pepper overcomes the flavor of the tomato & garlic, IMO. I also dislike
green pepper used in New England clam chowder; I don't understand why some
people do that.

kili

i've never heard of peppers in chowder. it must look rather odd.

your pal,
blake

In article <[email hidden]>,

kilikini said:

leaf, etc. It was garden chunky! A friend borrowed my cookbook and never
gave it back. I loved that cookbook. I wish I could remember the name of
it.

kili

Can you remember the name of the friend?
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://jamlady.eboard.com - Comfort Food for Bob Pastorio, updated
3-16-2007
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller - blahblahblog - Orange Honey
Garlic Chicken, 3-29-2007
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor

kilikini wrote on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:32:22 -0500:

k> Becca wrote:
??>> When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as
??>> one of the vegetables in your sauce?
??>>
??>> BTW, one of my Italian friends calls it "gravy", not
??>> sauce, so my apologies to those who call it gravy.
??>>
??>> Becca

k> I had a great recipe for a meatless spaghetti sauce that
k> included celery, carrots and spinach. Well, in addition to
k> the tomatoes, garlic, onion, mushrooms, olives, basil,
k> oregano, wine, pinch of sugar, olive oil, bay leaf, etc. It
k> was garden chunky! A friend borrowed my cookbook and never
k> gave it back. I loved that cookbook. I wish I could
k> remember the name of it.

Marinara sauce is meatless, quick and very good.

I wonder if your "garden chunky" one was Nigella Lawson's
uncooked variety?

It's an interesting variant but I don’t like it much!

"The following is in some sense the ur-pasta, spaghetti in its
most primitive and delicious form: al sugo crudo, which
translates from the Italian, quite literally, as spaghetti "with
a raw sauce." Tomato sauce, of course. Raw tomatoes are thus
peeled, deseeded and chopped, then left to steep with a little
sugar, some salt, pepper, a bruised garlic clove and good olive
oil. If your tomatoes are fresh and fat and ripe — and they will
be, increasingly, as the weeks pass into summer — you'll find
that there is perhaps no finer way to dress pasta. "

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

James Silverton said:

"The following is in some sense the ur-pasta, spaghetti in its most
primitive and delicious form: al sugo crudo, which translates from the
Italian, quite literally, as spaghetti "with a raw sauce." Tomato sauce,
of course. Raw tomatoes are thus peeled, deseeded and chopped, then left
to steep with a little sugar, some salt, pepper, a bruised garlic clove
and good olive oil. If your tomatoes are fresh and fat and ripe — and
they will be, increasingly, as the weeks pass into summer — you'll find
that there is perhaps no finer way to dress pasta. "

Now if you took those diced tomatoes and quickly pan cooked them in the
olive oil with some herbs, garlic, perhaps anchovies or any number of
ingredients for just a couple of minutes you'd have a quick fresh
"sauce" for macaroni too. I add the cooked and drained macaroni to the
pan to bring it all together quickly. Have you tried this?

"Goomba38" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

James Silverton said:

"The following is in some sense the ur-pasta, spaghetti in
its most primitive and delicious form: al sugo crudo, which
translates from the Italian, quite literally, as spaghetti
"with a raw sauce." Tomato sauce, of course. Raw tomatoes are
thus peeled, deseeded and chopped, then left to steep with a
little sugar, some salt, pepper, a bruised garlic clove and
good olive oil. If your tomatoes are fresh and fat and ripe —
and they will be, increasingly, as the weeks pass into
summer — you'll find that there is perhaps no finer way to
dress pasta. "

Now if you took those diced tomatoes and quickly pan cooked
them in the olive oil with some herbs, garlic, perhaps
anchovies or any number of ingredients for just a couple of
minutes you'd have a quick fresh "sauce" for macaroni too. I
add the cooked and drained macaroni to the pan to bring it all
together quickly. Have you tried this?

Apart from the anchovies, you are getting close to marinara.
Here's my recipe:-

4 Ig Cloves garlic, crushed

2 lb tomatoes (or same amount canned) but use Plum Tomatoes if
at all possible for taste and texture.

Leaves of 20 large sprigs Parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Possible additions,( IMHO, they are necessary):

1 tsp thyme,

Few leaves of basil,

1 tsp or much more oregano,

½ cup chopped onion,

1 tab vinegar

Marinara Sauce Directions:

1) Finely chop the garlic and coarsely chop the parsley.

2) Heat oil over medium heat and sauté chopped ingredients
for about two minutes, without permitting them to color too
much. .

3) Cut fresh tomatoes into 1-inch pieces. Add either fresh
or canned tomatoes to the pan and cook for 25 minutes or less,
stirring occasionally.

4) "Pass contents of pan through a food mill, using disc
with the smallest holes". (Option: omit the food mill step if
you prefer tomato "chunks."😉 Who's got a food mill anyway; use
a processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5) Reduce sauce over medium heat for 10 minutes.

--
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Becca said:

When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as one of the
vegetables in your sauce?

Um... what kind of spaghetti sauce?

Aglio-olio-peperoncino?
Al pepe e cacio?
Al pomodoro e basilico?
Al tonno?
All'amatriciana?
All'arrabbiata?
All'ortolana?
Alla brava?
Alla caprese?
Alla carbonara?
Alla carrettiera?
Alla ciociara?
Alla contadina?
Alla gaeta?
Alla giardiniera?
Alla marinara?
Alla napoletana?
Alla Norma?
Alla papalina?
Alla pizzaiola?
Alla potentina?
Alla puttanesca?
Alla romana?
Alla sarda?
Alla sangiovanniello?
Alla siracusana?
Alla tarentina?
Alla trasteverina?
Alle vongole?
Col ragù alla bolognese?
Con il pesto genovese?
Con il pesto siciliano?
Con il pesto trapanese?
Con le sarde?
Del buongustaio?
Dell'adriatico?
Etc.?

Victor

kilikini said:

I tastes rather odd, but I've had it that way more than once. It ruins it!

Red bell pepper works really well. The color is right and the pepper
gets all soft and sweet.

Karen

blake murphy said:

kilikini said:

Goomba38 said:

Puester wrote:

> Tomato, onion, garlic, green or red pepper. Usually meatballs
> and/or Italian sausage. Basil, oregano, fennel, marjoram. Fresh
> Italian parsley if I have it. Simmer all afternoon, at least two
> hours or it tastes raw like most restaurant pasta sauces. Even
> better the next day.

Green peppers are one thing I never add to my tomato sauces. I just
don't care for it or it reminds me too much of a pizza, I dunno?
But I have included roasted red peppers (either diced or pureed) in
various tomato sauces at times with good results.

I'm not a green-pepper-in-my-tomato-sauce fan, either. The flavor
of the pepper overcomes the flavor of the tomato & garlic, IMO. I
also dislike green pepper used in New England clam chowder; I don't
understand why some people do that.

kili

i've never heard of peppers in chowder. it must look rather odd.

your pal,
blake

I tastes rather odd, but I've had it that way more than once. It ruins it!

kili

On Fri, 20 Apr 2007 08:58:22 -0500, Becca <[email hidden]>
magnanimously proffered:

Quoted message said:

When you make spaghetti sauce, do you include celery as one of the
vegetables in your sauce?

BTW, one of my Italian friends calls it "gravy", not sauce, so my
apologies to those who call it gravy.

Becca

No ... but depending on the sauce I'm making, I sometimes add celery
leaves.