Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce


Spaghetti sauce is one of those dishes that is closely connected to memories of mom and family. I didn't inherit a spaghetti sauce recipe from Mom. I remember it being bland and rather watery. But, it was familiar and tasted good at the time.

I tried a couple of recipes after leaving home, but wasn't cooking too much until I met Bob. My second general cookbook I bought as an adult is the New McCall's Cookbook, published in the 70's. I adapted the lasagne meat sauce as my basic meat sauce after trying 3-4 different recipes. I always come back to it.

Now the girls are on their own and Linz makes this as her "mom's spaghetti sauce". That makes me feel really great.

I usually serve this on angel hair pasta. I've been cooking with Barilla Plus, a multi-grain pasta with 7 grams of fiber in a 100-gram serving. It has a mild, nutty taste that's not overpowering. They only have the basic shapes, but it's an easy way to get fiber into our diet.

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE
Makes 12 cups

2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pound ground beef, 95% lean
1 pound ground turkey
2 28 oz. cans tomato puree, or Italian tomatoes, crushed and undrained
2 12 ounce cans tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Heat large stock pot over medium-high heat. Brown meats, breaking up with a spoon. When almost cooked, add onions, then garlic. Continue cooking until onions are softened. Pour off grease. If desired, remove meat mixture with slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling set over newspapers.

Return meat to pan. Add tomatoes. You can use whole canned tomatoes, just break them up with your hands as you add them to the pot.

Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Makes 12 cups.

Per Serving: 270 Calories; 5g Fat (19.4% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 1024mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

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