I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for a while now. I have to admit, prior to my sister in law, Lucy sharing this recipe with me, my spaghetti sauce was never something to get excited about. In fact, my kids preferred eating plain noodles over my sauce. I couldn’t really blame them either. My sauce was just “eh.”
However, if we happened to have dinner at Ben and Lucy’s, my kids always got excited about her spaghetti and talked about her sauce. It was truly deep in flavor and had a great consistency. After having it several times, I finally decided I NEED THIS RECIPE. Now, I’ve made it so many times, I don’t even need to look at the ingredients or measurements.
In my opinion, here’s the star ingredient: Italian Sausage. I have yet to try it with turkey sausage but I bet that would be good as well.
Next comes all your tomato components: Tomato Sauce, Diced Tomatoes, and Tomato Paste.
Spices include: Parsley, Basil, and Red Pepper Flakes.
And this… Brown Sugar. Doesn’t everyone keep a marshmallow in their brown sugar? A neat trick I learned for keeping it soft up to 6 months. Totally works!
Brown up the sausage with onion and garlic, then add all the spices. (I add the spices before adding all the canned goods. I think it makes the meat that much more flavorful).
Another key ingredient after adding all the tomato products: Red Wine. You can leave it out if you don’t have any handy but around here, I don’t have that problem. ;) I think it adds a lot to the sauce!
Let it simmer on low for about 2 hours if you can.
It makes about 12 cups so I store it in these containers and freeze them.
We love it over noodles with parmesan and fresh basil.
Another favorite of ours is using the sauce for Stuffed Shells. Oh, YUM!!
Basically, I’ll never make another red sauce again after having this. It’s THAT good. And very versatile, too. You can use it for any baked pasta dish. Plus, we make a big pot full and love to freeze the rest. On days when you’re scrambling for dinner, it’s so nice to know you can just take some sauce out of the freezer, heat it on the stove, and cook up some pasta to satisfy the family.
Also, I love to give this sauce away to bless others. In fact, at Christmas time, I plan to make a gigantic batch and give it away in jars with a box of pasta as a gift. I think it’d be a great way to bless friends, family, and neighbors during the busy holiday season.
Lastly, I have to give credit where credit is due. Lucy actually got this recipe online and it’s called Jo Mama’s World Famous Spaghetti Sauce. However, you know when you fondly associate a dish with the person who first made it for you? It just becomes their recipe, right? Well, that’s why we call this Aunt Lucy’s Spaghetti Sauce.
And YES, we think it’s pretty world famous!
Or at least, it should be. :)
Ingredients:
Servings 12-14 Yields 3 quarts
- 2 lbs Italian sausage, casings removed (mild or hot)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
- 2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
- 2 cups water (for a long period of simmering for flavors to meld. If you don't want to simmer it as long, add less)
- 3 teaspoons basil
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4-1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 cup red wine (a good Cabernet!)
Directions:
- In large, heavy stockpot, Add EVOO, onions, and garlic. Stir until softened.
- Brown Italian Sausage, breaking up as you stir.
- Add basil, parsley, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water.
- Stir well and barely bring to a boil.
- Stir in red wine.
- Simmer on low, stirring frequently for at least an hour. A longer simmer makes for a better sauce, just be careful not to let it burn. Cool and freeze whatever you don’t use.
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