Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

4-6 Servings

2 hours

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Cook's note: Normally I make a triple recipe when I cook this, and then
freeze it in 2 cup batches. The recipe listed here should easily feed 4-6 people and maybe
even provide for leftovers. I usually get 10-14 frozen bags from the triple recipe, and each
of those bags yields three servings each for two of us.

Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2/3 lb mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 16 oz Canned Tomato sauce
  • 6 oz Tomato paste
  • 14.5 oz canned Whole tomatoes and their liquid
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp marjoram
  • Water (if necessary)
  • 1 tsp sugar (optional)
  • Salt & black pepper to taste

Directions

In a large stock pot over medium heat cook ground beef, breaking apart as it cooks. Add onions and mushrooms so that they cook in the rendered fat of the beef. Cook about five minutes, add the garlic and cook for about one more minute.

Add the Tomato Sauce, paste, and whole tomatoes, breaking them up with your fingers as you add them to the mix. Add the basil, oregano, and marjoram and stir. Let the sauce simmer, partly covered, for about thirty minutes. Stir it again, and check for consistency. If you feel the sauce is too thick, add water, in 1/4 cup increments until it reaches your desired consistency.

Taste the sauce. If it is lacking in flavor, add some more of the herbs. Also if the sauce has a sharp or bitter taste, add the sugar. Taste it again in another ½ an hour. You can serve it at any time that you like once it has simmered for an hour, but it gets better the longer it cooks, and tastes even better the next day if you leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

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