Spaghetti Sauce a la Marlene!

About 5 years ago I was watching a local morning tv show and "Chef Dad" was sharing how to make his spaghetti sauce.  I decided to try it and with a few changes we love it!  Here is my version.....

The ingredients are basic and it is very easy to put together!

First I measure my seasonings into a pyrex dish.  1 Tbsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. basil flakes, 1 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. crushed red pepper (or to taste.)

In a dutch oven measure about 2 Tbsp. olive oil and add chopped onion to taste.  In this batch I used 1 and 1/2 onions because they were very large.  Saute onion until tender.

This is where it gets a little wierd!  Not everyone in my family likes mushrooms.  I think it's not so much about the flavor but the texture.  SO, I add a full 16 oz. of mushrooms to the sauce but I run them through my Salad Shooter on the grater setting. We don't usually add meat to our sauce and the mushrooms give it texture and color.  So far no one has complained about them.  :) 

The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp. garlic salt.  I use the minced garlic in the jar.  Either is ok.  Add it now.

Next dump in 3 28 oz. cans of tomatoes.  I use 3 different kinds of tomato products:

28 oz. finely chopped tomatoes

28 oz. tomato puree

28 oz. crushed tomatoes

You can really use whatever tomatoes you like but these 3 give my sauce the texture I want.

 Now dump in your seasonings.

Stir it all up, cover it and simmer for about 15 minutes.  You are done!

I love the texture of this sauce! It makes enough to serve us dinner and make 3 more containers to freeze for future use.

Here's the recipe recap:

Spaghetti Sauce a la Marlene!

28 oz. finely chopped tomato
28 oz. tomato puree
28 oz. crushed tomato
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. garlic salt (or minced garlic)
1/2 tsp. basil flakes
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I never measure this, just eyeball it.  It's for sauteeing your onions.)
1 large (16oz) package of mushrooms
1  1/2 large onions, chopped

In a dutch oven saute onions in olive oil until tender.  Grate mushrooms directly into the onions and saute some more.  Add minced garlic and mix.  Dump in your tomatoes and seasonings and stir.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.

About the red pepper:  The original recipe called for 1 Tablespoon of red pepper flakes.  We did that and could hardly stand to eat it!  It was SO hot!  (And we like hot food!)  In our sauce I add 1 tsp.  You might want to start with 1/2 tsp. instead if you're not sure about the heat.  It really adds a nice bite without being really hot in my opinion.

You can add other veggies to this sauce as well.  Sometimes I will grate a zucchini into it.  It's a great way to hide veggies from your kids.