spaghetti sauce

One of the first things I learned how to cook after college was spaghetti sauce.  It was a staple for a vegetarian.  I thought it would be a good addition to my freezer food.

When it comes to Italian food -- I don't believe in sticking to a recipe.  You can change things up.  So this is what I started with.

You may notice a few odd things and a few cheats.  First, it was right about at this time that I was sad that I did not have an olive oil in my kitchen.  How is it possible I have none?  Second you will notice that I cheat with 2 ingredients.  First, I bought sliced mushrooms.  I love mushrooms.  But I hate cutting them.  So I bought them pre-sliced.  Second, that jar in the front is pre-minced garlic.  Generally speaking I love garlic (except for the year following when a friend made me a garlic soup with 40 cloves of garlic to help me get over a cold).  What I hate is the smell of garlic on my hands.  It takes days to get rid of the smell.  So I buy jars of it.  Works the same.

The odd things are the lemon juice and honey.  In Italian food?  Absolutely.  They are my secret (she says on a blog) ingredients.  Tangy and sweet.

Keep in mind, I refuse to use a measuring spoon when cooking Italian.  Taste a lot.  Do what you like.  And experiment the next time.

Cook the onion and garlic while chopping up the rest of the veggies.

I like to use broccoli because it adds so much.  And it is one of Ladybug's favorite veggies.

I also use plum tomatoes.  I like the plum tomatoes because they are a meatier tomato.  But if I wanted to be lazy (which has been known to happen around here) I am not opposed to using canned diced tomatoes.  I also add the spices in at this point.

I then added the mushrooms and tomatoes to the onions and garlic.

I love mushrooms and tomatoes.  Should I be worried that Ladybug doesn't?

I also opted for peppers.

And add all veggies to the pot.

Time to add the sauce.  Do not use already prepared sauce.  Do not use ketchup.

How can anybody resist this?  It reminds me of a story my grandmother told me.  She was a good Irish Catholic girl growing up in upstate New York.  She met a nice Italian boy and had dinner at his house.  She went home raving about Italian food.  Her mother agreed to make spaghetti for her.  She cooked some noodles and poured a can of tomato soup over it.  This is not my grandmother's spaghetti sauce.

Pasta anyone?

And for those who love meat -- add ground beef or sausage.  I like it without.

Mean Mama