Spaghetti sauce is a classic dinner that can go for days, and this recipe is so tasty! With a jar sauce base for quick short cut this is full of flavor with very little effort.
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Where does spaghetti sauce come from?
Lasagna may be thought of the worlds oldest pasta and sauce dish according to History.com but probably simple pasta with tomato sauce is probably most everyone’s favorite. According to the article the first recipe that appeared for pasta with sauce was in 1797 in a French cookbook.
Tomatoes became a staple in the Italian diet in the 1800’s, and it is this region that we think of when we think of pasta. Traditionally we think of bolognese, pomodoro, and puttanesca as classic dishes from this region.
The twentieth century saw the introduction of Alfredo sauce in 1914 when Alfred Di Lelio made this for his wife shortly after the birth of their son. In 1977, a restaurant in New York City brought us Pasta Primavera featuring a creamy garlic sauce with vegetables and cheese.
Prepping the sauce
Dice one large onion, and preheat a large pot for cooking the sauce. Once heated add some olive oil, and add the onions. Salt and pepper the onions to taste and cook until translucent. Add the minced garlic, two tablespoons of olive oil, and one tablespoon of oregano. Cook until the garlic is fragrant.
Add to this the ground beef, and cook until no longer pink. Add the cut Italian sausage to brown with the ground beef. If you do not have link sausage you can add one pound of ground Italian sausage with the ground beef.
Add to this the jarred sauce, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, sugar, pepper, and oregano. Diced green peppers can also be a wonderful addition. Stir everything together, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2-4 hours. Adjust the pepper and oregano until it suits your taste.
Serve immediately over pasta, or store in an airtight container for one week. Can be frozen for up to two months. To freeze with pasta put a quart freezer bag in a large coffee cup then seal to freeze.
If you enjoyed this you might like Pork Schnitzel with Red Cabbage, Instant Pot French Onion Soup, or Instant Pot Apple Cider Turkey!
Dad’s Famous Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 onion large and diced
- 2 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage cut into one-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 jars spaghetti sauce different flavors for best results
- 2 14.5 ounce diced tomatoes drained slightly
- 1 can sliced olives small, optional
- 1 can sliced mushrooms large, optional – may substitute fresh
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp pepper adjust to taste
- 3 tbsp oregano adjust to taste
- 1 tbsp parsley adjust to taste, optional
Instructions
- Dice onion and add to large pot with some olive oil to saute. Salt and pepper to taste. Add minced garlic, oregano, and additional olive oil. Saute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add ground beef and Italian sausage and cook until no longer pink.
- Add jarred spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, sugar, pepper, oregano, olives, and mushrooms. Bring to a simmer and cook a minimum of two hours. Adjust seasonings to taste.
I’m the writer, photographer, recipe developer, and one of the many taste tester’s at Monday is Meatloaf. I live in a sleepy Florida town on the out-skirts of the Tampa Bay metro area. Growing up I got the opportunity to see a lot of great family cooks in action, but I didn’t delve into the culinary world until later. My blog focuses on simple cooking techniques that maximize flavor across a variety of cooking disciplines that are totally do-able for the home cook.
