Spatini Spaghetti Sauce Mix Clone

By SuzyHomemakerGoneBad

From Todd Wilbur: "Since the Spatini Italian Foods Company discontinued production and sale of its spaghetti sauce mix in December 2006, Internet discussion groups have organized petitions pleading to bring the product back. For more than forty years generations of families have enjoyed spaghetti made by mixing a packet of top secret powder with canned tomato sauce. But after Spatini disappeared from grocery store shelves, the only way to get that same flavor on spaghetti required locating leftover stock on the Internet - and paying dearly for it. On eBay, 10-box lots of Spatini sold for up to ten times what they originally cost in stores. Now you can save your hard-earned lira and still get real Spatini flavor, because after analyzing a packet of the mix, I've discovered a great way to clone this "Dead Food" at even less cost than the products retail price before it became extinct. The secret ingredient is a crushed-up beef bouillon cube, which contains the precise quantity of salt and natural flavors, plus autolyzed yeast extract a flavor enhancer, to mirror the original blend. Add a couple ground herbs, onion, garlic, powdered sugar, and cornstarch to substitute for the potato starch used in the real thing, and you'll have the exact amount of mix you need to recreate the spaghetti sauce you grew up with."

Ingredients

• 1 beef bouillon cube, crushed
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• pinch ground black pepper

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from topsecretrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Pulverize the beef bouillon cube to a powder using a kitchen mallet or mortar and pestle. Mix with remaining ingredients in a small bowl. To make spaghetti sauce, follow the same instructions that appear on the original box of Spatini:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the seasoning mix, 1 tablespoon oil (optional), desired tomatoes, and amount of water listed on chart*.

2. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring frequently, as directed below.

3. Each batch of this recipe makes approximately .55 oz. or a scant 2 Tablespoons of spice mix, if you want to make a large batch. This makes about 1 pint sauce -- 4 (1/2 cup) servings.

*Chart for different types of tomato sauce (add one batch of recipe above to each sauce):

1 6 oz. can tomato paste + 1 1/2 cups of water- simmer 5 minutes

1 15 oz. can tomato puree + 3/4 cup water- simmer 5 minutes

2 cups (16 oz.)crushed tomatoes + 1/2 cup water- simmer 15 minutes

2 cups (16 oz.)carton pack tomatoes- simmer 15 minutes

1 1/4 pounds fresh ripe tomatoes, pureed- simmer 40 minutes

Spicier tomato sauce: 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce + 1/2 cup water-
simmer 15 minutes.

Chunky homestyle sauce: 1 14.5 oz. can whole tomatoes, undrained, with
tomatoes chopped + 1/3 cup water- simmer 15 minutes