What is Marinara Sauce?

Marinara is a much lighter, quick-cooked tomato based sauce. It can actually be made in about 30 minutes and has very few ingredients compared to other Italian tomato sauces. Typically, it contains only tomatoes, garlic and one or two herbs. Marinara isn't really hearty enough for a dish like Rigatoni Bolognese. Get the full details about homemade marinara sauce, here.

What is Tomato Sauce?

Tomato sauce is a much thicker tomato-based sauce than marinara sauce. Typically, the tomatoes have not only been peeled, but also had the seeds removed. Canned tomatoes don’t work as well in this instance. Tomato sauce has more ingredients than homemade marinara sauce, along with a deeper, richer and more complex flavor. And, believe it or not, traditionally, tomato sauce was not vegetarian. It was based on the French “mother sauce”, Sauce Tomat , and started with a roux made with pork fat. It’s almost like a gravy. In some areas of the United States, one version is actually called Tomato Gravy. In modern Italy, tomato sauce is called Sugo di Pomodoro . It uses few ingredients, but is more flavorful and complex than the canned tomato sauce we buy in the United States. Pomodoro is delicious, all on its own, and often tossed with pasta or used on pizza or even gnocchi. Again, this tomato-based sauce, on it's own, still lacks the heartiness and creaminess of the bolognese sauce used in Rigatoni Bolognese.

Then what is Spaghetti Sauce?

If you polled people on the street, in the U.S., my guess is that many of them would say that classic Marinara Sauce and Spaghetti Sauce are interchangeable and other than the addition of some sort of meat, basically the same thing. Before I started looking into the origins of these delicious sauces, I would have agreed with them. But in truth, when we think of sauce for spaghetti, we seem to picture thicker, cooked-down tomato sauces with meat and even cheese. Some might consider the sauce in my rigatoni Bolognese to be "spaghetti sauce." But I don't typically think of spaghetti sauce as including whole milk. Who's to say?

Can I just used diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled tomatoes?

Sure. If that's what you have on hand and your family loves, then use those. Just use the number of ounces called for in the recipe. When we reach for canned tomatoes, the reason we choose whole peeled tomatoes is because the quality and ripeness is so much better than diced tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes. Commercial canners choose the ripest, highest quality tomatoes for the whole canned variety. End pieces and tomatoes that are not high enough quality to be canned whole are used to make diced and crushed varieties. Whole peeled tomatoes usually have more vibrant color and better flavor. And, it's not much work to break them down for a recipe.

Rigatoni Bolognese, Easy Delicious Pasta Recipe

Description

Rigatoni Bolognese is tender rigatoni pasta stirred into a hearty homemade Bolognese sauce and garnished with fresh herbs & grated Parmesan cheese. It’s company-worthy delicious, easy to make and the aroma wafting through your home will quickly bring adoring fans to the kitchen.

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the Homemade Bolognese Sauce:

1 lb. Ground Beef
1 lb. Italian Sausage
3 Carrots, minced
2 Celery Stalks, minced
1 lg. Onion, minced (any color)
1 lg. Bell Pepper, minced (any color)
1 (6 oz.) can Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
2 (28 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes with juice
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste

For the Rigatoni Bolognese:

Homemade Bolognese Sauce (recipe above)
16 oz. Rigatoni Pasta (or your preferred tubular pasta)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
fresh Basil and/or Parsley for garnish

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Instructions

Blitz the veggies in the food processor or mince them by hand. Set them aside.
I use the food processor to pulse the canned tomatoes and break them down a bit, as well. Set the tomatoes aside, too.
Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage.
Scoop the browned ground beef and sausage into a bowl and set aside, but leave the grease in the bottom of your pot.
Add the minced veggies and tomato paste to the pot and cook for 2 to 3 minutes over medium/high heat to soften the veggies and caramelize the tomato paste. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Add the Italian seasoning, minced garlic and white wine vinegar to the veggies and continue cooking over medium/high heat. The aromas will be getting wonderful.
Add the whole milk and water and stir until everything is fully combined.
Now add the bay leaves and browned ground beef and sausage.
Stir in salt and pepper.
Thoroughly stir everything together and bring to a boil over med/high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Stir occasionally as the Bolognese cooks down over the next 1 1/2 hours.
At the end of 1 1/2 hours, remove the bay leaves and stir.
Taste the sauce for seasoning. Here’s where you add more salt and pepper if it’s needed. Is it too acidic? If the acid level is too high, add a pinch of baking soda. Stir thoroughly and taste again. Repeat until the flavor is where you want it.
Cook and drain the rigatoni according to package directions.
Pour the Bolognese sauce over the drained rigatoni and stir until everything is evenly combined and all the pasta is well coated.
Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and chopped basil and/or parsley.

Notes

You can double the Bolognese portion of the recipe and freeze half of it for a quick fix meal, in the future. Sauce will keep up to 4 months in the freezer.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours 30 min
Category: Sauces, Pasta, Main Dish
Method: Stove Top
Cuisine: American-Italian

Description

Ingredients

For the Homemade Bolognese Sauce:

Instructions

Notes

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