A good spaghetti sauce recipe...

I start my sauce off with a large can of unseasoned tomato puree and another can of stewed plum tomatoes (I once tried to peel and de-seed fresh plum tomatoes myself, and it was too much work for too little output). I dice and caramelize half of a large Spanish onion in a little extra virgin olive oil. Then I roast a red pepper and about six cloves of garlic -- the red pepper's there for tartness, not spice, so I remove most of the seeds. I chop the pepper and garlic and toss it in the pan along with the onions and tomatoes, letting them all simmer together on low heat.

I don't usually use wine, but I would go with something rich and bold (and somewhat dry) to contrast the sweetness of the onions and garlic with a slightly bitter edge.

Seasoning: salt, black pepper, oregano (I don't like basil in tomato sauce; it's too minty), and parsley at the last minute, to adjust the flavor to the right pitch. I never salt things too early on; it dehydrates the food and puts me in the bad habit of relying too much on seasoning and not enough on natural flavors.

Sounds nice. I would advise the wine, though, or some booze at least (great advise from a guy who's now about halfway through a 5th of Jack Daniels, right?). While watching the Good Eats on the Food Network that Alton Brown dude said that tomatoes have flavors that are alcohol-soluble, thus only come out into the sauce when you throw the hooch in there.

I like pepper alot, however the missus doesn't, so I kinda keep away from it unless she's outta town. You know, it's not the seeds that carry the heat, it's the membrane that the seeds are next to.

By the way, have you noticed any kinda difference between Sea Salt and plain ol' kosher? I've been using sea salt lately (mostly because it came in a neat little grindy thing, and I feel more profesh when I grind stuff instead of simply shaking it on) and I don't really notice a difference in taste.

all salt = sodium plus chloride, so it's really all abt how it's chunked and the fun u need crushing it

i wd always toss in a little brown sugar, in both cases

it is my secret ingredient

sea salt = NaCl + trace amounts of various minerals-- Fe, K, Zn, Mn, etc that aren't refined off like table salt from salt mines is. most of the subtleties in sea salt's flavor is pretty much lost in cooking something like tomato sauce, but if you put it on something and eat it straightaway i think you can notice the diff

ok i'm really going to bed now!!

I start with sweated onions shallots and garlic. Turn the heat up and throw in 2/3 beef 1/3 pork. Brown it. Tomatoes in (normally tinned, but fresh or passata do just as well), some red wine, a couple of dashes tabasco, a good amount of of worcester sauce, a little beef stock and a little ham stock. Not too much salt, the stock is salty, pepper, a couple of bay leaves. Let it cook down slowly until thick then mix in a few cups more of water wine or stock, and let it cook down again. More water and let it cook down again, all the time doing this as slowly as possible.

Adjust the seasoning at the end and serve with handfuls of parmesan.

the last time I made sauce:
cook onions and garlic in saucepan with olive oil. add sausage and meatballs and brown. remove meat. pour in canned tomato sauce. let it cook for a while. add red wine, choopped fresh parsley, basil and oregano, and some salt and pepper. let it cook until it is starting to taste good. add meat. cook until you are happy!
i don;t have a set recipe. I just do what "the Godfather" tells me to do.

Why remove the meatballs?Surely they taste better when cooked in the sauce.

All the sauces here are gravy, Romeo Dunn, but this is what made me lardy;

Extra virgin olive oil gently heated - use a heat diffuser if you have one - throw in some crushed garlic and dried chilli to taste (try two cloves and one chilli/teaspoon crushed chilli), cook until golden but not brown, mix with spaghetti. Optionally cook broccoli, preferably in a steamer to preserve those nutrients, chop and mix with the garlic and chilli.

Finely chopped carrots add heft and a note of sweetness to it.

You must begin with olive oil. But not just any olive oil. (Horrors!)

No. You must begin with prime, extra virgin olive oil from Palermo. But that is not good enough. It must be infused. Not infused in the ordinary way, either.

I infuse my olive oil by force-feeding one (imperial) gallon to a neutered Sicilian goose across a fortnight, until its wing feathers turn a rich, glossy light green colour. Then I kill the goose, pluck it, and press the oil from the feathers and beak. DO NOT press the feet, as they will taint your oil with a faint, but detectable, flavour of goose droppings. This will yield approximately five tablespoons of infused oil.

I use no tomatos in my sauce. They are an abomination. Instead, I use charred artichokes, discarding the leaves, stem, choke and heart.

For herbs, I favor loveage - steeped in brine, rinsed in clean cold water and pureed until yellow and frothy. Skim the scum from the top of the loveage before using and reserve. It causes sterility.

Other than that, my recipe resembles the ones already posted here. I recommend printing them all out on paper, reducing them to their constiuent sentences using a scissors, combining the slips of paper in a hat, drawing them out one at a time, and following whatever instructions you find printed there. You can't go wrong!

For this post (at least), Aimless is my hero.

I wasn't the first to think it. Only the first to blurt it out. The story of my life.

Aimless' recipe is spot on but for one point - loveage? Try tarragon seeped in cat's tears.