This is a delicious, homemade authentic Italian pasta sauce recipe handed down through five female generations of my great-grandmother’s family. It's rich, slightly sweet, and also incredibly satisfying. If you love fried dough, this is the perfect sauce to use as a topping. You’ll want to spoon the sauce right out of the pan and enjoy it immediately!
Prep Time5 minutesmins
Cook Time2 hourshrs
Total Time2 hourshrs5 minutesmins
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 8cups, approximately
Calories: 120kcal
Author: Gina House
Ingredients
228-ounce canscrushed tomatoes(Pastene is a popular Italian choice)
½poundItalian-style veggie pepperoni or sausagesliced into chunks (optional)
Instructions
Open up both cans of tomatoes. Place your large saucepan or dutch oven over medium high heat. Pour tomatoes and water into the pan.
Add in the olive oil, bay leaves, and spices. Stir well.
Bring your sauce to a low simmer and then reduce heat to medium low. Cook (slightly covered) for 1½ hours, stirring every half hour or so (at least).
If using veggie meatballs, pepperoni, and/or sausage, add them in, stir well, and simmer for another ½ hour.
When your sauce is done, turn off the heat, pull out the bay leaves, and scoop out the veggie meats onto another plate for serving. Buon appetito!
Notes
This amount of sauce is enough for 2 meals of 4 people—either with pasta, lasagna, stuffed shells, etc. The finished sauce (and veggie meats) can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. You can also freeze a large portion of sauce in a covered, freezer-safecontainer for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and heat up in a saucepan on medium or medium-high until desired temperature.
The plant-based, vegan meats are not required to make this sauce. If you do cook the sauce with these foods, the sauce will have a richer, deeper flavor, but it’s still very flavorful without them. My family loves it both ways.
When the sauce is just done, try spooning some hot sauce over a slice of fresh Italian bread (un-toasted) and enjoy. If you have a loaf of Scali bread with sesame seeds in the crust, it’s even better! An Italian tradition at our house.
Serve with a fresh green salad, vegan parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast, and (if you like spiciness), a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes.