• Chef’s notes
• Details
• Ingredients
• Directions

§Chef’s notes

The sauce portion of this recipe was handed down to me from my mom. It is nothing novel or mind blowing, but it was always the best tasting sauce I had as a kid. It remains that way as an adult.

§Details

• ⏲️ Prep time: 30 min
• 🍳 Cook time: 6 hous +
• 🍽️ Servings: 4

§Ingredients

• 3 lbs Italian sausage - hot, mild, or mixed
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 white onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 tsp of each - salt, pepper, cayenne, chili powder, chipotle powder, basil, oregano

§Directions

1. First, feel free to add or subtract from the 1 tsp of spices above. That is just a baseline amount and baseline of the spices I prefer.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
3. Place sausage on a cooking tray with lipped edges. Foiling the tray and putting the sausage on a baking rack is recommended.
4. Score the sausage in the size slices you would like to consume when finished cooking.
5. Cook sausage for 25 min
6. Dice onion and mince garlic
7. Place a large pot, preferably enameled cast iron (Le Creuset-like) on the stove on medium heat.
8. When the pot is warmed up, add olive oil and coat the bottom thoroughly.
9. When olive oil is hot, but before smoking, add onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent.
10. When onions have reached translucency, add tomato sauce and tomato paste.
11. Stir mixture until smooth and the texture is consistent throughout.
12. Take finished sausage out of the oven and cut them along the score lines. Add to sauce.
13. Mix the sausage and sauce together, and lower the heat to simmer.
14. Stir the sauce every 30 min or so, constantly tasting. Add spices as desired.
15. The mixture can be eaten once the sauce has thinned out due to the rendering of the fat into the sauce, but the longer it simmers, the better.
16. Serve in a bowl and eat with a fork (my recommendation, but do whatever you please here). Add fresh grated parmesan, red chili flakes, and oregano as desired.