Homemade Pasta Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

• 1 Heat oil on medium-high heat in large saucepan. Add onion and salt; cook and stir until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, garlic powder and crushed red pepper; cook 1 to 2 minutes until tomato paste begins to brown and caramelize, stirring frequently.
• 2 Reduce heat to low. Carefully stir in tomato puree and oregano, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. (Sauce may splatter as you pour it into the pan; remove from heat temporarily if needed.) Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• 3 Meanwhile, bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• 4 Add pasta to pan with sauce. Sprinkle with parsley. Toss to coat pasta in sauce, adding reserved pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. Serve sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, additional crushed red pepper and parsley, if desired.
  
  Test Kitchen Tips:
  • Make it a meat sauce: After sautéing onions in step one, add 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, ground hot or sweet Italian sausage, ground pork or a combo. Cook and crumbled until browned, draining fat as needed before adding tomato paste.
  • For extra savory flavor, add 4 slices bacon (chopped) or 1/4 cup chopped pancetta along with the meat.
  • For some extra veggies, stir in 2 cups sliced or chopped veggies, such as zucchini, squash, mushrooms and carrots.
  • For a chunkier pasta sauce, try using crushed tomatoes in place of the puree.