I have made spaghetti sauce in different ways. When life was busier, I used commercially prepared sauce "as is". When I had more time to devote, I would make a sauce from scratch. Most often, I find myself using a favorite commercial sauce, and enhance it with the addition of meat and vegetables.
If you are hoping for a carefully measured recipe to follow, this isn't it. What follows is a recipe that permits you to be creative as well as efficient when making your sauce. My spaghetti sauce is rarely the same each time I make it. Why? Because I use spaghetti night to "clean out" and use up the assortment of vegetables I have in the house! My sauce is basically filled with "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" in amounts you happen to have or in amounts you prefer. (My family loves lots of mushrooms!) I also use organic ingredients when ever possible. I hate waste, so I often freeze small amounts of the last of the veggies to use later in sauces or soups. (ie, the last few grape tomatoes, or Roma tomatoes that might be getting too ripe, peppers that needed to be used up or frozen, left over half onion....)
So take the plunge and put away the measuring cups and measuring spoons. Grab your chef's knife and get chopping! This recipe can be made in your choice of a slow cooker or simmered on the stove top. I use a 7qt slow cooker. Either way, the house will smell divine!
Everything Spaghetti Sauce
- your favorite spaghetti sauce - I use 4 jars of organic sauce or follow a recipe for a scratch sauce
- chopped celery - I use 2 large stalks organic
- sliced mushrooms - I use 8 oz of organic cremini/baby bella
- chopped onion - I use organic: 1 whole onion, or a bunch of green onions, or several leeks-chop white
portion/freeze the green tops to use later to flavor soup - chopped kale - I use organic, 3 large leaves, tough stalks trimmed out. OK to use chopped spinach in place of kale
- grated carrot - I use 2-3 organic carrots
- chopped green pepper - I use 1 organic, seeded and chopped. Red, yellow or orange peppers are OK too.
- cut up zucchini - I use 2 small organic, ends cut off, unpeeled cut into chunks
- minced garlic - I use several cloves, minced fine
- chopped tomatoes - I use organic grape or Roma tomatoes that I have frozen to use in sauces or soups
- browned ground beef - I use 1 lb of grassfed ground beef. OK to use ground turkey, or Italian sausage if you
prefer. You can increase amount of meat if you like.
Personally, I like to put all the vegetables in a pan and lightly saute in olive oil before adding them to the sauce. This softens them a little bit. Simmer your sauce on the stove top for several hours, or set slow cooker on LOW for 3-4 hours or longer.
Serve with your favorite cooked pasta. I use organic whole wheat mostacolli, rigatoni, spaghetti or vermicelli noodles. I have even used homemade pasta if I have time to make it. My husband likes to use prepared spaghetti squash in place of pasta. I also like to top my plate of pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes for a bit of heat.