I adore Chunky Tomato Sauce. I typically use it as my base for spaghetti and meatballs, Little’s favorite meal. You can also puree the sauce for a delicious marinara or pizza sauce.
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The secret ingredients that make this recipe are the heady aromatics, clove and nutmeg. You can use a rasp to grate fresh nutmeg, and a coffee grinder to grind whole cloves. (To avoid transferring flavor to our coffee, we keep a separate grinder for spices.) Don’t overdue it, because a little goes a long way. But once you add these to your tomato sauce, you’ll do it again and again.
My favorite meatball recipe is by Williams Sonoma. (I won an impromptu meatball contest with these.) Meatballs are a bit of work, so double the batch and freeze half so you have meatballs on hand for future meals. My main modification to this recipe is cooking the meatballs in the oven. Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Add an oven-safe wire rack to the sheet pan and generously butter. And the best trick for meatballs of a similar size? Use an ice cream scoop! Cook at 400℉ for 20 minutes. Once cooked, broil until browned. If you like your meatballs on the softer side, I recommend adding extra ricotta.
Chunky Tomato Sauce
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4-5 carrots, diced
- 3-4 celery stalks, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup white wine (optional)
- 1 large can of unsalted, diced tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 -5 thyme springs
- 1 cup chicken stock (add more or less to thin to desired consistency)
- 1 Parmesan rind (optional)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- Pinch of freshly ground cloves
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat pan over medium heat. Add butter and olive oil. Once the butter is melted, add carrots, celery, and onion. Saute until slightly caramelized.
Add garlic and bloom for one minute.
Deglaze pan with white wine, and reduce by half.
Add tomatoes, bay leaf, whole thyme sprigs, and Parmesan rind.
Add pinch of cloves and nutmeg.
Add cooked protein (e.g., meatballs, chicken, sausage, cannellini beans).
Add chicken stock and thin sauce to desired consistency.
Simmer for at least 15 minutes until flavors meld.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
While sauce is simmering prepare base (e.g., pasta or rice).
