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spaghetti sauce

(1 rating)
Maritimemama avatar
Recipe by
Deb Wilson
@Maritimemama
New Glasgow, NS

An old favorite. I have made all six of my kids a "family cookbook" and the first question they all asked was "is your spaghetti sauce recipe in here?"

►
(1 rating)
yield 10 serving(s)
prep time 30 Min
cook time 4 Hr
method Stove Top

Ingredients For spaghetti sauce

  • 1 lb
    lean ground beef (or chicken)
  • 1 md
    onion, diced
  • 1/2 c
    green pepper, diced
  • 1 can
    mushroom stems and pieces (10 oz or 284 ml)
  • 1 can
    diced tomatoes (28 oz or apprx. 828 ml)
  • 1 can
    (hunts) thick & rich original pasta sauce (23 oz or apprx 680 ml)
  • 3 Tbsp
    dried oregano
  • 4 Tbsp
    dried basil
  • 1 clove
    garlic, minced (or 1/4 tsp powder)
  • 1 pinch
    sugar
  • 1 tsp
    salt and pepper
  • 1-2 tsp
    crushed chilies (or 1/2 tsp cayenne - optional)
  • 1/4 c
    dry red wine
  • hot cooked spaghetti noodles

How To Make spaghetti sauce

  • 1
    In large pot, fry beef, onion and green pepper until meat is no longer pink. Drain fat. (I dump mine into my spaghetti drainer and run some hot water over it to get rid of most of the fat). Add remaining ingredients, except noodles; bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 2-3 hours. Or, once you are ready to reduce the heat and simmer, you can transfer the sauce to your slow cooker and leave on low all day until it’s time to serve. Serve over hot cooked noodles, topped with grated Parmesan cheese and with some cheesy garlic toast.
  • 2
    How Much Pasta Should I Cook? If you will be serving pasta as a main course with maybe a salad and some crusty bread, use 4 ounces of pasta per person. In other words, a one-pound box of dried pasta will serve four as a main course. If the pasta will be a side dish to a protein (as in Chicken Parmesan), allow only 2 ounces of pasta per person.
  • 3
    How to properly cook pasta: To cook one pound of dried pasta, bring 4 liters of water to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling, add about a teaspoon of salt. Don’t add the salt until the water is boiling, or the salt could pit your pot. Add the pasta all at once, bending long pasta into the water as the boiling water starts to soften it. Once the water has come back to a boil, turn the heat down a bit to prevent boiling over. Cooking about 7-8 minutes is plenty of time. If you use sufficient water there is no need to add oil to the water - that only adds unwanted calories. Also you should not rinse the pasta after it's cooked unless making it for a pasta salad, in which case you would rinse it in cold water.
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