One of the best ways to stretch a meal is with pasta, so if you are looking for the best spaghetti sauce, you have landed in the right place. The recipe comes from my Italian ex-husband’s side of the family…and they can cook. Unfortunately, there were no measurements, so I had to observe this creation being made to decipher how much of each ingredient was used. This post is here for mostly here for selfish reasons, as I don’t ever want to lose this recipe. Here are my observations:
Ingredients:
6 links of sweet Italian sausage
1 lb. of ground sirloin
1 can of San Marzino crushed tomatoes – These really are the best crushed tomatoes
2 empty 28 oz. cans of water; I used the San Marzino can.
1 6 oz. small can of tomato paste
1 clove of garlic
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of Italian seasoning
1 tsp of beef bullion (secret ingredient) I like “Better than Beef Bullion”
Hot pepper flakes (optional)
A pinch of sugar
Steps:
1. Cut sausage into pieces. Use a serrated knife to cut through the casing.
2. Brown the sausage in a generous amount of olive oil…I used 1 tbs and it wasn’t enough. Make sure that it is no longer pink.
3. Drain the fat. (That wasn’t in the recipe, but I did it.)
4. Brown ground sirloin in the same pan.
5. Cut your onion and green pepper into small pieces.
6. Add green pepper, onions, garlic, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water Italian seasoning, sugar, and a bay leaf to the pot. Bring to a boil and let it simmer “for a long time”
7. Top with “good cheese” . I found some at my favorite store Trader Joe’s.
Here is how the sauce looks after it has been brought to a boil. It looks kind of watery but cooks down.
Tips:
*I used frozen cubes of garlic, which was a nice time-saver. It tastes as good as fresh garlic and much better than garlic powder.
*The sugar really does a nice job of minimizing the acid taste. You may wish to add two pinches to taste.
*I first tasted this recipe using the hot pepper flakes and loved it. However, if you are making this for your family and you have little ones, it may be too spicy.
*The photo shows a red pepper, but that is because I didn’t have a green pepper on hand.
*Please try this recipe and let me know what you think. If you make any modifications, let me know.