Melissa Jo’s Sauce for Stuffed Shells 🍅
This is the homemade sauce recipe I make whenever I am making a baked pasta dish. Come to think of it, this is the sauce recipe I make even when I am boiling pasta and serving it on a Sunday. No matter if you use this for a baked pasta dish such as Stuffed Shells or simply as your sunday sauce to serve with your favorite pasta you are in the right place! If you have been following me on social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest) a while you know that I always build my sauce starting with pork whether it is pork chops, country style pork ribs, italian sausage, or a combination of all of the above it truly gives a depth of flavor to your sauce that is unmatched!
Now, if you are here from my stuffed shell recipe you are in the right place, this is the exact sauce I made and used within my stuffed shell recipe. And, more likely than not you are here to find my secret ingredient: slow simmered country style pork ribs to shred and add within the ricotta mixture for your stuffed shells. So are you ready? Let’s make it!
🗒 Baked Pasta Recipes to Add This Sauce To
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store in air-tight container for 3-5 days in refrigerator.
🤔 Common Questions
Before freezing, let the sauce cool completely at room temperature. This prevents condensation from forming inside the container, which can lead to freezer burn. Then, pour the cooled sauce into freezer-safe Ziploc bags or an airtight freezer-safe container. You can freeze it up to 3-4 months!
You can also use either Pinot Noir or Malbec!
Yes! You can beef short ribs to build you sauce, slow simmer then, and shred them. Do the same process as I did with the pork!
🎥 Items Featured in the Video
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Melissa Jo’s Sauce for Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 4 country style boneless pork ribs room temperature & patted dry
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp garlic powder divided
- 3 tsp salt divided (to taste)
- 3 tsp cracked black pepper divided (to taste)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 10-12 cloves of chopped garlic
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp of oregano
- 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup of cabernet or any red wine
- 3 28 oz cans of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, hand crushed
- 20 oz water
- 1 oz hunk of pecorino romano
- 1/2 tsp of sugar
- ¼ cup fresh basil ripped up
Instructions
- Season both sides of the pork ribs with 1 tsp of each: garlic powder, salt, and cracked black pepper.
- To a pot, add olive oil and let it heat up. Once the olive oil is hot add in the pork ribs. Let them saute on a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side until browned (DON’T MESS WITH THEM). Once they are browned, set them aside on a plate.
- In that same pot with the oil, add the chopped garlic, 1 tbsp garlic powder, dried basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp cracked black pepper. Saute that together on medium heat until fragrant and golden. Next, add in the tomato paste (save the tomato paste can) and brown that up for a few minutes. Then, pour in the red wine and let that simmer on medium for a few minutes so the alcohol can burn out. Then bring the pot to a boil.
- To a large bowl, add your cans of whole peeled tomatoes (save one can) and crush them up with your hands leaving some chunks. Once the pot comes to a boil add in the hand crushed tomatoes from the bowl (save the bowl) and stir everything together. Now, fill up the whole peeled tomato can that you saved halfway with water, swish it around to get the excess tomato out and pour it into the bowl that you crushed up the tomatoes to get every last bit. Also fill the tomato paste can that you saved all the way up with water, swish it around to get all the excess out, and add that to the bowl with the other water. Then, add all that water into the pot and bring the pot back up to a boil.
- Once it comes to a boil, add more salt and pepper (about a tsp more of each). Make sure you layer the salt and pepper as you go! Also, add in the hunk of pecorino romano, a pinch of sugar, and add the pork ribs back into the pot with all its accumulated juices.
- Now, lower the pot to a low simmer and cover it with the lid leaving it slightly ajar. Let that simmer together on low for about 2 hours.
- Once it’s been two hours, stir in the fresh ripped up basil and you’re ready to make stuffed shells!
Video
Notes
- When you are making sauce you need to layer salt and pepper as you go and taste it.
Nutrition
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What can you use to substitute the red wine? Or what brand of wine do you use?
You can use Cabernet , Pinot noir, or Malbec! ! Honestly you can use a splash of any white wine as well as long as it’s not sweet! Dry works 🙂
Excellent sauce and shells. My family said it was a keeper. True Italian style! Yummm
So happy you enjoyed ♥️