If you don't have an awesome neighbor-friend, then you need to get one. Because, this recipe came from my amazing neighbor-friend Jenn, who is a top-notch cook, baker, and basically just a cool person. She did me a favor by sharing this recipe with me.
I'll be honest with you...until last year, I don't think I've ever made spaghetti with sauce that wasn't from a jar. You know the saying, if it's not broke, don't fix it and Newman's Own Sockarooni is pretty good. But, homemade spaghetti sauce takes it to another level - particularly this one. And, it took 15 minutes...just slightly longer than it usually takes me to actually get the spaghetti jar open.
The original recipe can be found on Epicurious, but I modified it just a bit to take out a teensy-weensy bit of the fat. Don't worry, though, I didn't go crazy. I'm also tired since it's the end of the semester, so my photos are terrible. I apologize in advance, and if I ever get famous, I'll redo my whole blog and post great looking photos. In the meantime, just trust me - this recipe is good even if the photo and store purchased garlic bread look less than impressive.
RECIPE
Pasta of your choice, prepared
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
6 to 8 baby carrots
2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 lb. turkey Italian sausage
4 TBSP tomato paste
2 tsp dried oregano
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine
2, 15 oz cans tomato sauce
4 TBSP unsalted butter, cold
Process the onion, carrot and garlic in your food processor until finely chopped.
Spray a skillet with cooking spray, and then add ground beef and ground turkey to medium-high heat. Add the processed vegetables to the meat. If you prefer real pork Italian sausage, go right ahead. It will be delicious. I just cut corners where I can, and this seemed like an easy trade. No one knew the difference.
Brown meat for a few minutes until most of the pink from the meat is gone (3-4 minutes) and stir in tomato paste, oregano, 1.5 tsp salt, and pepper (to taste). Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally until heated through 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly for about one more minute. Add the tomato sauce, turn the heat down to medium, and let your sauce simmer for 4-5 minutes.
Remove the sauce from heat and stir in butter until well incorporated. Serve over your pasta of choice. I'm not bossy - choose whatever pasta you like and however much of it you want to eat.
Seriously, this sauce is ridiculously easy and tastes SO GOOD. You won't believe me until you try it, so go ahead.
Note: This made a large amount of sauce (probably enough for 6-8 people to eat large portions from), so I let the extra sauce cool to room temperature and then put the leftovers in the freezer. Sauces like this generally freeze very well for up to 3 months, and are perfect for making lasagna later!
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