| Italian cooks have been experimenting with sauces for | | | | bottled Duke of Urbino sauce is available, the |
| centuries. Specific sauces were created to go with | | | | ingredients are still secret. Root thinks honey is one of |
| specific pasta shapes. Many Italian cooks think the | | | | them. |
| sauce makes the dish. Though American grocery | | | | Do you want to save money? If so, make your own |
| stores carry an array of jarred sauces, they cost | | | | pasta sauce. After reading dozens of recipes, I came |
| more and may not suit your taste. Home made sauce | | | | up with this recipe for basic tomato sauce. I added a |
| costs less, tastes better, and has less salt. | | | | touch of honey in honor of the Duke of Urbino. The |
| As author Jack Denton Scott notes in "The Complete | | | | sauce has few ingredients and you can make it in |
| book of Pasta," when you have mastered the art of | | | | 10-15 minutes. Make a double batch, if you have time, |
| pasta sauce "you are a long way to mastering the art | | | | and freeze half for another day. |
| of Italian cooking." Denton thinks sauces should be | | | | Ingredients |
| delicately flavored and no ingredient should dominate. | | | | 2 1/2 tablespoons extra light olive oil |
| Though I'm a "made from scratch" cook, in a pinch I | | | | 1 large shallot, peeled and minced |
| have used jarred sauces. Just as Denton described, | | | | 1-2 teaspoons garlic, minced (depends on your taste) |
| some sauces had an overpowering flavor of garlic. | | | | 2 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes |
| Other sauces had corn syrup in them and tasted too | | | | 1 teaspoon honey |
| sweet. The dried seasoning packets were too strong | | | | 1 teaspoon lower sodium saltfreshly ground black |
| and tasted artificial. Italian sauce varies from regio to | | | | pepper to taste |
| region, but one stands out from the rest -- Duke of | | | | 1 tablespoon dried basil |
| Urbino Sauce. | | | | Method |
| Food correspondent Waverly Root writes about the | | | | Pour olive oil into soup kettle. Add minced shallot and |
| sauce in his book, "The Cooking of Italy." In the 15th | | | | cook for two minutes. Add all remaining ingredients. |
| century Urbino, Italy became an important town. | | | | Cover and simmer on very low for 8 minutes. Watch |
| Apparently the ruling duke, Federigo da Montefeltro, | | | | the sauce carefully because it is thick and spurts like |
| was unpopular and so afraid of being poisoned that he | | | | lava. Use it for spaghetti, pizza, chicken or meat. |
| ate unseasoned food. "But the Duke, as fond of | | | | Makes 8-10 servings. |
| seasoning as the next aristocrat," Root writes, "had his | | | | Variations |
| own private sauce -- prepared for him at the table by | | | | Beef Sauce: Add one pound 93% lean hamburger, |
| a trusted servant from secret ingredients." Though | | | | cooked. |