Recipe: Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound Italian sausage, ground beef, or ground turkey
1 1/2 cups onion -- finely chopped
1 cup mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped celery or bok choy
1 12 oz. can tomato paste
3 28 oz. cans Italian style crushed tomatoes
2 cups water
4 teaspoons garlic -- minced
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
4 tablespoons fresh parsley -- chopped
1 or 2 each red peppers
1 dash chili powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 16 oz. pack spaghetti
In a large pot, cook and stir the meat, onion, mushrooms and celery until the meat is brown (You may want to remove the skin from the sausage and cook like browning
hamburger); drain fat.
Add remaining ingredients, except the spaghetti.
Bring sauce to a boil; reduce heat.
Partly cover, and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
(If desired, simmer in a crockpot instead of a pot. Lessen the amount of water to 1 or 1 1/2 cups if using the crockpot method).
Makes 12 cups of sauce.
When the sauce is at the desired consistancy, refrigerate (even overnight). This allows any remaining fat to rise to the top and solidify so you can remove it. Remove the bay leaves and the red peppers.
After sauce has cooled, freeze in 4 cup container for spaghetti, 3 cup
container for French Bread Pizza, and 2 1-quart freezer bags for Calzones.
To prepare for serving SPAGHETTI, thaw sauce and heat in medium saucepan.
Cook pasta according to package directions and pour sauce over pasta.
You can serve this right away if you wish; however, I would use a spoon or pieces of bread to skim any fat off the top of the sauce. Your finished spaghetti will look and taste so much better with no fat leaking onto the pates.