Day 204 - Sauce

About two years ago my mother-in-law planted a jungle of tomatoes which she graciously shared with us.  That's when I decided it was time to start experimenting with my own spaghetti sauce.  It didn't take long for my husband to inform me that my homemade sauce is MUCH better than canned sauce. Then my sister told me the same thing.  Then my brother's girlfriend.  Now I feel obligated to make spaghetti sauce from scratch whenever possible.  The best part is, it isn't that hard.  So here's one variation of my recipe. We use it for spaghetti, lasagna and pizza.  I'm not claiming to be Italian or the master of the kitchen but it is pretty good if I do say so myself.



Tracey's Sausage and Red Pepper Spaghetti Sauce

1 lbs Mild Italian Sausage
2 TBSP Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 TBSP Butter
1/2 Large Sweet Onion chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper chopped
4 Cloves of Garlic minced
3 Cans of Stewed Tomatoes.  I like either the type with Italian seasoning or garlic added in.  I think they are the 14.5 oz cans
1 can of Tomato Paste
1 TBSP  Dried Oregano
1 TBSP Dried Basil
1 TBSP Dried Parsley
1/8 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

1.   In a large saucepan brown sausage. When cooked, transfer to plate with paper towel to drain.
2.  In the same pan, add olive oil and butter to pan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted add onions and peppers. Cook until the onions are almost translucent and the peppers are starting to soften, add the garlic and cook until the garlic is a light golden brown.  About 3 minutes.
3.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Cover with lid and turn heat down to low (on my stove I usually cook is on 2 or 3)  and let simmer for at least 15 minutes.  The longer the better.  I really like to give it at least 30 minutes.
4. About 5 minutes before serving, blend using a stick/immersion blender.  I do this because we don't like chunky sauce. You could also use a regular blender,  just be REALLY careful cause this stuff is HOT!
5.  Once you've blended the sauce stir in the cooked sausage and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.  Again, the longer the better so feel free to let it go for a little while if you'd like.
6.  Now eat!

Note: If sausage doesn't float your boat, you can always leave it out. You can also leave out the red bell peppers.  I love this sauce because there are tons of variations. Sometimes I also like to add carrots and zucchini if I feel like my family needs some more veggies.  The best part is when you blend it nobody cares.  :)