Spaghetti sauce with italian sausage
8 servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 1½ | pounds | Italian sausage cut into links |
| 1 | small | Onion, diced |
| 3 | larges | Cloves garlic, sliced |
| 6 | ounces | Can tomato paste |
| 8 | ounces | Red wine |
| Plenty oregano, basil marjoram | ||
| Dashes ground fennel red pepper flakes | ||
| 8 | ounces | Fresh mushrooms |
| Dash Bertolli Lite olive oil | ||
| 1 | large | Green pepper, diced |
| 16 | ounces | Can tomato sauce |
| 1 | teaspoon | Sugar |
| 1 | large | Bay leaf |
| Pinch each thyme, rosemary | ||
| Lots parmesan cheese | ||
| 2 | Slices american cheese | |
Directions
In a dutch oven, brown the sausages well (still in their casings) in a little olive oil. Use tongs to remove sausage to top of pot lid. Drain off fat if necessary, leaving about 1 tbs in pot. Toss in onion, green pepper and garlic and stir to coat, scraping up the brown bits from bottom of pot.
Let cook for about 2 minutes, just 'til the onion and pepper begin to soften (do not brown). Return sausage to pot and stir in tomatoes or sauce, paste, sugar, wine, seasonings and parmesan. Simmer for 45-60 minutes. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms in a dab of butter, dash of olive oil, sprinkle of marjoram or basil and paprika. Add the mushrooms and any juice in the pan to the saucepot during last 15 minutes of cooking. Add optional american cheese a few minutes before serving, let melt & stir in. This really mellows out the sauce Tips: You can brown pork shoulder blades or spareribs along with the sausage. Gives a great flavor and provides a 2nd meat course if you're having company. Use more or less wine, depending on whether you're using whole tomatoes or sauce. Just aim for a nice thick sauce. Leftovers make great sausage sandwiches. I freeze mine a lot for quick meals later.