Eating at home...

Here's a simple one...

Drain 2 cans chick peas (garbanzo beans) into a strainer, rinse, then remove the outer skin by lightly running between your fingers. This can be very time consuming, but is worth the effort for a smoother texture.

Place chick peas in a food processor, along with a small can of chopped black olives. Add a few cloves of chopped garlic (about 1tsp or so), a few grinds of black pepper, and a small sweet onion.

Drizzle in some olive oil as the mixture blends, it should have a nice creamy texture when done. Taste, and re-season as necessary.

2 lbs bulk Italian sausage
2 cans tomato paste
4 cans tomato sauce
1 large onion, minced
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp tobasco
2 tbsp grape jelly
1/4 cup red wine
1 cup water

Fry the sausage, and when brown, add the onions. Sauté until translucent, add the garlic, sauté another minute or two. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, allow to reduce slighty, add the tomato sauce, paste, and other ingredients.

Allow to simmer on low heat for at least an hour. A bit of honey can be substituted for the grape jelly. For a bit more heat, use more tobasco.

There are generally two types of clam sauce, red, and white. A restaurant I ate at a while back had what they called a clear sauce. It was quite nice, so I attempted to replicate it. I have since given up on trying to replicate it, as I like my version better, and it gets better every time I make a batch.

Basic recipe is as follows:

2 cans of chopped clams (usually found next to the canned tuna)
1 can on minced clams (usually found next to the chopped clams, see above)
1 large sweet onion, minced
1 can petite diced tomatoes (if you dice your own, use a nice tomato like a Romano)
1 bottle of clam juice (next to the other cans above)
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp butter
1 lb linguini
fresh grated parmesan cheese

Sauté the diced onions in olive oil until translucent, add the minced garlic, sauté another minute or two, then add the diced tomatoes, the bottle of clam juice, and the juice from the cans of clams (but not the clams themselves).

Add the oregano and basil, the salt, butter, and a few grinds of black pepper. The butter will give a little bit of richness to the sauce instead of adding cream like you would in a white sause. Simmer this on low heat, you will want the clam juice to reduce down to about 1/3 of what you started with, this will concentrate the flavor.

Boil water for the linguini, when it comes to a boil, add the clams to the sauce and cover. All we need to do is heat them through, if they cook too long they will turn rubbery.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese on top, preferably fresh.