The Cossu's Spaghetti Sauce

We always look forward to Saturday nights. Since my wife has to work most Saturday's, this is our official night together when Joey gets to bed. So last night we made my famous spaghetti! I'm Italian, Sardinian to be exact. Making spaghetti is like second nature to me. It's in my blood. Therefore, I never use store bought pasta sauce. I make my own. Here I will share my recipe, so that others can also enjoy. Remember, we are a hard working family with limited time, so some day I will use ALL natural ingredients. At this point, some ingredients are still from the can or frozen, but contain far less sodium than the pasta sauces at the store. I also like to make my sauce in bulk so when our schedules get hectic I have reserves in jars in the freezer. Here goes:

Olive Oil

1 1/2 lbs. of lean ground meat (we have used both turkey or beef, it's what you prefer)

4 cans of low sodium diced tomato's

1 can of low sodium tomato paste

1/2 a bag of bird's eye pepper stir fry (you can find this in your frozen section of your grocery store. I like to keep the frozen stir fry so we don't risk our food going bad in the refrigerator all the time)

2 - 3 Tablespoons of pre minced garlic

1 Tablespoon of sugar (this adds a sweet flavor, if you don't prefer then eliminate this)

1/2 Tablespoon of chili powder

1/2 Tablespoon of garlic powder

1 - 2 Tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

Italian Seasoning to your liking

Preparation:

In a large pot heat some olive oil. Add the minced garlic to the oil and heat for thirty to forty five seconds. Be careful not to over cook the garlic because it will burn easily. Next, add the pepper stir fry mixture and sauté until the mixture softens. (Careful when adding the frozen stir fry which contain water that will react with the oil, making a sizzle and may splatter).  Once those have softened add your ground meat. Cook the meat until it has completely browned. Now add your diced tomato's to the pot and stir. While stirring add the sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, the italian seasoning and your soy sauce. Continue to stir. Let this mixture simmer for about ten minutes so the flavors cook together. Take 3/4 of the sauce and add to your blender and blend thoroughly. While that's blending add the the tomato paste to the left over sauce in your pot. Stir the paste in with your sauce. (It's easier to see that your paste is completely mixed with your sauce rather than trying to mix it into a full pot of sauce). Now take your sauce from the blender and pour it back into your pot with the remaining sauce. Add some more Italian Seasoning and stir again. It's recommended to let simmer for about thirty minutes. This will allow all the flavors to blend well. Now serve over your preferred pasta noodles. What is left remaining you can store in some old pasta jars and place in freezer. Later I will write another blog on the proper way to can your left over pasta sauce.

We hope you enjoy and feel free to post your comments!

Bon appétit!