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Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with Sausage

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbs oil
  • 1/2 cup diced white or yellow onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced about 1 tsp
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 large 28 oz can of tomato sauce
  • 1 can 15 oz of diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 pound cooked Italian sausage
  • 3 Tbs brown sugar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • grated Parmesan cheese to serve at the table

Instructions

  • Heat the oil a minute or two and then cook the onion and garlic until softened. Add the ground beef and cook until cooked through. You could also add the sausage here and cook through but I did them in a separate pan as I thought of them after the ground beef had cooked. (If you had 6 oz of tomato paste I would normally add that here!)
  • Stir in the tomato sauce, undrained tomatoes, water and herbs and seasonings. Add the cooked sausage at some point if you haven't already done so. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and then cover partially. Cook 1 to 2 hours, stirring periodically. About a half hour before serving, remove the cover entirely to let the sauce thicken.
  • If the sauce gets too thick, add more water. I didn't have the problem since I had no tomato paste.
  • Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water according to package directions.
  • Serve either all tossed together family style or pass the pasta and the meat sauce separately and let each choose what they like.