Thickening Spaghetti Sauce

[jkpjohnson]

First time making it from scratch. I was going to throw a can of tomato paste in, but I opened the can (does not look good). Is there another way to thicken the sauce, or will it just reduce/thicken on its own?

[jkpjohnson]

I have some frozen meatballs that I was going to throw in, this should help absorb some of the excess liquid, correct ?

[wilbe95]

I have added parmesan cheese before to help thicken it up.
But normally add the tomato paste it works the best.
The meatballs might thicken it some (absorb some of the juice).

[cheriluvsrj]

Originally Posted by wilbe95

But normally add the tomato paste it works the best.

Try leaving the lid off for a couple hours, maybe even longer

[brchbell]

I make mine from scratch always! When I was 16 I did a semester at the university of St Andrews and then that summer I did a month at the university of London. Then a month in Paris and then a month in Rome living with a Roman family in the very old part of Rome. I came home and shared with my Mom how they made spaghetti meat sauce and it's all I've used since then. It used a small amount of tomato paste and made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce. I always have tons to freeze for later meals. If you can't get it to thicken up you might try a little corn starch in 1/4 cup of cold water to thicken it on up.

[brchbell]

Real Italian Spaghetti sauce

3/4 pound ground beef
1/4 pound ground pork (can use mild sausage if you can't find ground pork)
1 large onion finely chopped
7 pounds of fresh tomatoes ran through a sieve (in winter I use 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes)
bay leaf
1 tablespoon salt
1 small can of tomato paste

Brown the meats together with the onion and drain grease. add salt, tomatoes and bay leaf and let simmer over very low heat with lid on for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and add tomato paste. Stir in and let simmer with the lid off for 2 hours. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time if the sauce gets to thick.

I found this works very well in the crockpot when I'm busy and need to be gone. I feed a family of seven about 5 times with this recipe. I freeze into samll containers and use it throughout the month for a quick meal. My family won't eat anything else but this recipe.

[lcove2000]

This is basically my same recipe...I lived in a very heavily populated italian neighborhood and got this recipe from some of the older woman here. I always use 2 cans of crushed tomatoes as I don't have fresh that readily available and a whole can of tomato paste. I also lightly brown chopped garlic in this and add either 1/2 c. of red wine or balsamic vinegar after all other ingredients have been added to add a little zest. I put in fresh meat and any meat that I have (left over steak or pot roast or pork chop or chicken) as this always adds such great flavor. Like cream in coffee, I find that meat in this sauce is key to good flavor. My family loves my homemade sauce.

[tsgal]

Thanks for sharing your recipe brchbell. I also use tomato paste in mine.