Delicious! The best spaghetti sauce I've ever had. I made these changes like a lot of others:
--Put tomato paste and tomatoes in a blender and puree instead of mashing them
--Only 2 tbsp of Italian seasoning
--Add 1/2 cup of red wine
--A little less red pepper--depends on your taste
--Add 2 tbsp of brown sugar. It helps to negate the acidic bite of the tomatoes and lets the other flavors come through
I only had time to let it simmer for 2 hours and it was still amazing!
This is really yummy, but involves a lot of unnecessary work. I browned the hamburger in a huge pasta pot and then drained it, leaving a little fat in the pan and setting the meat aside. Then, I softened the celery and onion slowly (for 10 minutes). Then I added the rest of the ingredients. All in one pan! If you don't like CHUNKY sauce, use diced tomatoes, not whole. Also, I stir/mash with a potato ricer, not a spoon. Either way, if you simmer all day, it shouldn't be that chunky (tomato sauce tastes like ketchup, eww). Last, it DOES need sweetness -- I add a tsp. of sugar 15 minutes before serving -- you should taste and do it to your preference. These sound like big changes, but they're not -- and well worth it, if you're going to do this all day. Looking forward to posting my own private recipe soon.
I too love sweetness in my sauce however I do not like to add sugar. A friend of ours who did go to culinary school made a sauce & his was awesome with a beautiful sweetness.. not a sugary artificial one. I asked his secret I knew he would not add sugar either. He said he adds crushed rosemary. Wonderful! Makes all the difference in taste & no added sugar.
It was my turn to cook for family dinner (we meet at my dad's on Saturdays) and my 5-year-old daughter wanted spaghetti. I don't like spaghetti and my husband fixes a packaged sauce when the 2 of them have it. I insisted on a from-scratch recipe and liked the fact that this sauce simmered all afternoon. I left out the celery and peppers (at my husband's request) and added red wine (at my father's request) and served it up. Everyone raved about it and they are a diverse and picky group. My daughter did not find it too spicy. This might even make a spaghetti fan out of me!
This was my first try at homemade sauce. It was wonderful! Definately a keeper...thanks for the great recipe!
WOW! This is one supergood recipe. I never used to like homemade spaghetti sauce because they were always lacking in flavor..but not this one..it's yummy! This time I used fresh tomatoes out of my garden because it's that time of year (guess I used about 10 med. size) plus I cut back on the Italian seasoning & only used about 1 1/2 Tbsp. & it was just right not overpowering. Also used only 2 bay leaves. With any spaghetti sauce (even the jar stuff) I always add about 2 Tbsp. of brown sugar as it takes the "bite" out of the tomatoes from the acid in them. My sister-in-law told me about this years ago & I've been doing it ever since. Thanks for a great recipe Lana!
I really loved this recipe. My son loved it and so did my hubby. It was terrific and really easy! My only changes (after reading other reviews) I didn't do all the steps. I just cooked the ground beef onion celery etc. Just made it a one pot deal. I used really lean ground beef so there was no need to drain. I didn't have time to cook it for 6 hours but it was fantastic just the way it was after 3 hours. Besides I don't like my ground beef cook to a mealy consistancy anyway. I didn't change the seasonings at all. I love bay and I love my sauce to taste like something other than tomato. I did add a tablespoon of sugar because I like my sauce to have a 'balanced' flavor. I was surprised the recipe didn't call for salt or pepper. I didn't add it and it didn't need it. Happy cooking! Laura Behrendt
This was the best spaghetti sauce I've ever made! I dont like my sauce chunky so I minced the onions and celery in my food processor before sauteeing them. After they were cooked I put them back into the processor...along with the tomatoes and tomato paste and processed until it was smooth but thick. Then I just put it and the rest of the ingredients in my crock pot and and let it simmer all day. I added meatballs the last 3 hours of cooking. The whole family loved it! Thanks for sharing:)
Five stars the first day ten the second. I just had a bowl of leftovers and it was even better than last night. Yum. Since so many reviews mentioned how chunky it was I took the suggestion of another review and swapped one can of tomatoes for a can of tomato sauce. Turned out perfect. Next time I will make a double or triple batch for some to freeze.
