Spaghetti Sauce Extraordinary
Not long after Doug and I married he decided to make spaghetti sauce. I was horrified as I watched him put a whole stick of butter into the sauce. It was good, though.
Since then we have come to a compromise. No butter in the sauce. Just some olive oil!
Now-days we would go for a vegetarian Italian sausage. There are some pretty good ones out there and the rest of the recipe stays the same.
Yield: Sauce for 6 generous portions of pasta
Time: 1 to 3 hours
3 clv garlic, minced finely
1 lg onion, diced
1 lg bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, sliced thinly
2 tbs olive oil
1 lb Italian sausage, cut into 1” lengths. Try to find some made with natural casings.
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 can cheap red wine
1 ½ tbs oregano, dried. (Fresh is much better, use about 5 tbs lightly chopped)
1 tbs basil, dried (Ditto!)
3 bay leaves
2 tbs sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
Saute the onions, pepper, carrots and garlic until the onions are transparent.
Add the sausage and brown the casings slightly. Add the mushrooms and saute until they just turn dark. If you are not counting calories, a bit more olive oil would make this a little easier.
Add the tomato sauce and paste Rinse the cans with wine and add this to the pot.
Add all of the other ingredients. Cook very slowly for 1 to 2 hours. Add additional water or wine if you need to extend the time. The sauce is ready when it is deep red‑black and smells vaguely of caramel. Remove the bay leaves and serve over pasta. (I assume you know how to cook the pasta. If not see the back of the package.)