My Favorite Spaghetti Sauce

I make a lot of spaghetti. You probably think that's because it is one thing that all my children will eat. Wrong. I have one of the few kids in America who won't touch a noodle. So strange. I wish I hated pasta. Perhaps I would be thin if I didn't love it so much. Alas, I do love pasta. And I love it even more with a side of garlic bread.

So in spite of the fact that I am technically on a low carb diet, I made spaghetti last night. Oh, and I made garlic bread and put extra croutons in the salad. I told myself I wasn't going to eat the pasta. Or the bread. Or even the croutons. But even when I was telling myself such things, I knew I was a liar. White flour is my friend and it longs to be close to me.

I have to tell you that the most perfect pot for making sauce is a Le Creuset Dutch Oven.  


They don't pay me to say that. They don't even know about me. They should though. This is the one thing I will fight to the death with Mr. Bell about (if we fought that is, I told you that food bloggers don't fight with husbands) and that is that yes this pot does cost $300 and it is worth every penny. Also if I was one of those wives with a rule about no kitchen appliances or gadgets as gifts (which I am NOT) I would totally waive it for anything from the Le Creuset product line.  Seriously get this pot. You will gaze at it and try to think up things to make just so you can use it. Okay, maybe that's just me.... 

Meat Sauce for Pasta
Recipe by Michelle's Dinner Bell

1 lb Italian sausage
1 tbs canola oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cans Italian style stewed tomatoes (14 oz ea)
6 oz can tomato paste
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (yes in this case I DO use the green can)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp basil
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
1-2 tsp sugar

Heat 1 tbs of canola oil in your Dutch oven or large pot and brown Italian sausages. Remove from pot and brown ground beef and onion. Drain the beef and put sausage links back into pot. Add garlic, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, Parmesan, bay leaves, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and 1 tsp of sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. Taste sauce and add more sugar if necessary. Discard bay leaves and serve. I use this for everything from spaghetti to lasagna. You can also do the simmering all day long in your slow cooker.

Enjoy!


7 comments:

  1. Funny--for several years, all my child wanted to eat was pasta. But I have the only kid in America who doesn't eat French fries! That is one gorgeous pot!

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  2. MM, no French fries? Now that is strange. My now 5 year old didn't eat them until he was about 3, but he eats them now. If they are just right....

    Michelle

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  3. Amen on the spaghetti, and double Amen on the Le Creuset Dutch Oven. I have several sizes and they are my favorite! I swear food tastes better when I cook in them!

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  4. Remember that old jingle for Blue Bonnet margarine? I now have it running through my head, "Everything's better cooked in a Le Creuset Dutch Oven." Sure it doesn't quite fit. But it's stuck.

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  5. I know you didn't blog to the whole world the fact that you shared this delicious meal with my family the other night...and I don't mean to stir up (no pun intended) any unnecessary feelings of jealousy with your readers, but after eating the leftovers (what little there was of the enormous pot you brought over) of this DELICIOUS sauce for my lunch this afternoon, I am compelled to post another comment. And I mean COMPELLED! After all, this sauce was hands down, the most delicious sauce I have ever eaten! My apologies to all of my Italian friends whose sauce recipes are handed down by their ancient relatives for generations upon generations. I know you think that spaghetti sauce is an easy thing to make, blase, blase, but I am here to tell you it is not! I happen to make a pretty darn good sauce myself. I don't use a recipe, and I pray it works every time I make it. But you had flavors in this sauce that were subtle, yet distinct, and they just plain all worked together. Just goes to show, simple ingredients, each in their perfect proportion make for savory cuisine. Readers, do your families a favor and try this recipe the next time your family cries out for spaghetti night (we all do!). And if your lucky enough to have hidden the leftovers in the back of the fridge where no one but you will ever look, then two days later you will find an even more delicious sauce waiting for you! I swear, it was even better today! And I don't even feel a tinge of guilt that I hogged it all for myself!

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  6. If I am only making the sauce to feed 2 people, can the rest be frozen and eaten at a later date? Any recommendations? Also, do you by chance know the nutritional information? Thank you!

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  7. Also, when you say "the green can" for parmesan cheese....do you mean the grocery store version in a can that you shake and it comes out of the top? Or the expensive grated, fresh cheese?

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