Carrots

[darkerhorse]

Do you put carrots in your spaghetti sauce?

[lyn1982]

Thats a thing? Man my ancestors would be disappointed - I hate carrots.

[MarcuccioV]

Ragu from the northern part of the peninsula contains carrots. Never seen them in any relatives or friend's sauces (Ragu or otherwise) from Rome-south.

[darkerhorse]

The reason I asked is that my non-Italian mother put in carrots (thinly sliced so they blended in). I assumed she got the recipe from my Sicilian grandmother. I think it helped thicken the sauce and balance the acidity of tomatoes.

Non of my non-Italian family or friends use carrots in sauce so I was wondering if Italians did.

[darkerhorse]

By thinly sliced I mean the long way - shredded, not discs.

[darkerhorse]

My grandmother put whole boiled eggs in braciole, and veal and green olives in scacciata, so these might just be unique family recipes.

[MarcuccioV]

We use a little brown sugar to temper the acids. My mother used baking soda.