I'm looking for a homemade pasta sauce that tastes like Prego. Thanks.?

Question

I'm looking for a homemade pasta sauce that tastes like Prego. Thanks.?

Answer 1

Whenever I make sauce, it's just a little bit of this, a little bit of that until I get the taste I want.  I also like my sauce meaty - I brown 1 lb of meat (hamburger, veal, turkey, even ground chicken!) & 1 tube of sausage, but you can go meatless.  You can also add a can of crushed tomatoes.

1 can tomato sauce

1 can tomato paste (use paste as needed)

Diced Onion

Diced Garlic

Oregano

Basil

Sage

Parsley

Fresh Mushrooms sliced

Salt, if needed

Sugar

Answer 2

I would never do anything but make my own.  But why would you want a home made sauce taste like some commercial brand sauce? You may as well just buy Prego and say you made it.  Why try to duplicate something you can buy anyway?  Prego might be passable, but nothing can compare to a good home made sauce.  That said, here's how I make my sauce.  I have to apologize though.  It's so much better than Prego (or any other brand), it's probably not what you want.  

This recipe includes my recipe for making meatballs.  Just leave that part out and skip to the sauce directions if you don't want meat.

SPAGHETTI SAUCE (& MEATBALLS)

Sometimes I chop up gr. peppers and celery into my sauce... but in all the years I've made my own sauce, I've never detected either of those things in the sauce when eating it.  They are a type of seasoning... not for bulk.  If you want a good sauce, it's a lot of work, but worth it.  If you want it to taste just like Prego, then buy Prego.

Ingredients

2 pkgs. Italian Sausage (use a mixture of sweet & hot if you like)

Sauce

3-4 lg. cans (2 ea.) crushed tom. & puree

1/2 med. gr. pepper – finely chopped

2 sm. cans tomato paste

1 stalk celery (w/ leaves if desired) finely chopped

3-5 cloves fresh garlic – crushed

1 lg. clove fresh garlic – finely chopped

2-3 tbs. oregano

2 tbsp Ital. seasoning mix

1 tbs basil

3 tbs. Olive oil

dash red pepper flakes

Salt & Pepper

Romano cheese

Large bay leaf

flat-leaf (Italian) parsley (fresh if possible)

Large onion - grated

Sm. - med. onion - chopped

Meatballs

1-1/2 lbs ground chuck - or leaner beef if desired. (can add 1/2 lb. ground pork to the beef), or use just the beef - or 2 lbs of beef.  1-1/2 is probably enough)

1 cup herb stuffing mix (the crumble kind) milk

oregano

1 egg

Italian seasoning mix

basil

salt and pepper

Romano cheese (few tbs ?)

Sm. onion - grated

Sausage preparation:

Cut sausage links in half and brown in a fry pan over medium heat.

Directions for Meatballs

Tip:  Not a bad idea to leave the meat out for a short time to get the chill off.  You’ll be mixing it with your hands, and the fingers will be VERY cold if you skip this step.

1. Place stuffing mix in sm. bowl or measuring cup.  Pour milk over to cover to soften stuffing. (you can let it sit while you do other things or pop it in the microwave for a minute or 2)

2. Put the ground beef in a large bowl and add, egg(s), all seasonings, grated onion and cheese

3. Pick up handfuls of moistened stuffing mix and squeeze out milk.  Add to beef mixture

4. With hands, mix meatball mixture thoroughly

5. Form into 2 inch balls (or larger if you prefer) and place in 9 x 13 baking pan and heat in 350° oven until lightly browned.

(Note: You’ll be putting the sauce together while the meatballs are browning)

Directions for Sauce

1. To a large Dutch oven pot, add 3 tbs. olive oil

2. Add finely chopped sm. onion, and finely chopped clove of garlic and simmer slowly until onions started to soften.

3. Add sauces and tom. paste.  Use a little water to rinse out sauce from cans and add to pot.

4. Add finely chopped celery and green peppers, and remaining ingredients (herbs & seasonings, finely grated lg. onion, cheese, 2-3 lg. cloves garlic - crushed)

5. Mix thoroughly

6. Add browned sausage and meatballs to sauce

7. Cover and simmer on med/low.  If it’s simmering, it’s high enough.

8. Let simmer for a minimum of 4 hours, and stir often.

Note:  If you wait too long to stir and miss for a bit, be careful.  The sauce could burn just on the bottom. If you think that has happened... and it happens (you can feel with the spoon if it’s not touching the metal bottom of the pan), be careful not to scrape up the bottom.  You could end up with black flecks of burned sauce mixed in your otherwise perfectly fine batch of sauce.

Serve with homemade garlic bread and tossed salad

Pasta suggestions:  Angelhair pasta, any tubular noodle (ziti, etc.)

Answer 3

PASTA SAUCE

1 1/2 c finely chopped onion

1 can (12oz) tomato paste

3 cans (28 oz each) Italian style crushed plain tomatoes in puree

2 c water

4 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

4 bay leaves

4 tsp dry basil leaves

2 tsp oregano

4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Sautee onion until until golden. Pour everything into large pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hrs. Freeze in portions. Makes about 3-4 jars' worth. If you want this to be a meat sauce, you can add 1 Lb Italian sausage or ground beef. If the sauce is too tart for you, you can add a little more sugar, and maybe a little more salt too.