Thursday, January 15, 2015

Steve's World Famous Spaghetti Recipe

My husband, Steve, makes the best spaghetti, so I thought I would share his famous recipe with all of our readers.  It's a double batch.  He's made it for our family, friends, big dinner parties, and everyone loves it.  Enjoy!

STEVE’S WORLD FAMOUS DOUBLE SPAGHETTI RECIPE

4 Lawry’s Dry Spaghetti Sauce Seasoning Packets

2- 4 oz. cans of Tomato Paste

2 – 14.5 oz. cans Diced Stewed Tomatoes

1 Red or Orange Bell Pepper


2 sweet onions, diced

2 boxes of mushrooms or more

1-1/2 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage and 1-1/2 lb hamburger meat

Put water in large pot or Dutch oven at low heat.  Stir in the 3 packets of dry seasoning until dissolved (ignore the directions on the seasoning package).  Stir in the 2 cans of tomato paste until dissolved. 

Pour the 2 cans of stewed tomatoes and stir.  Stir in the sugar, and start with ½ T, tasting the sauce as you go.  Dice the bell peppers and onions, slice the mushrooms and peel the garlic.

Put enough oil in a frying pan to coat the bottom on medium heat.  Add the bell peppers and sauté until they are translucent.  Throw into the sauce pot and stir.

Add some olive oil and butter to the frying plan.  Sauté the onions until translucent, stirring to make sure that they don’t get over cooked.  Garlic.  I use a garlic press, but you can finely chop them.  Add the garlic to the pan in the last few minutes from the onions being done, otherwise the garlic burns.  Stir to blend in with the onions, and then add the onions and garlic to the sauce pot.  Butter the frying pan, and sauté the mushrooms, and then add to the sauce pot.  TASTE THE SAUCE.

Brown the ground beef (I salt and pepper it).  Good meat stays in ¼ inch clumps.  Drain off the oil, and add the meat to the sauce pot.

Cut the casing off the sausage and tear the sausage into ¼ inch clumps.  Brown and add to the sauce pot.

Note:  Sometimes when I made this, 3 packets of Lawry’s spices works perfectly.   However, the last time

I made this, in tasting the sauce, I got a sharp tomato taste when I tasted it before I put the meat and sausage in.  I ended up adding almost a fourth package of Lawry’s Seasoning, more than a tablespoon of oregano and almost another tablespoon of sugar.  The sugar cuts the acid taste in the tomatoes, but you want to be careful so that it is not too sweet.  Getting to the right flavor is somewhat of an adjust as you go.  A little bit of Italian seasoning doesn’t hurt, but the sauce does not have to taste perfect before the meat goes in, because the meat and sausage increase the taste, so final adjustments should be made after all of the ingredients are in the spaghetti.  I have also added some parmessan cheese in the past to mellow the flavor.  


You can make the spaghetti sauce the day of your dinner, but you can also make it the day before because letting it sit overnight in the refrigerator actually improves the flavor.

If there is a reddish oil on top of the sauce, spoon it off and get rid of it.  TASTE THE SAUCE.

Note:  Variations: You can make veggie spaghetti by just adding chopped zucchini and more, and different mushrooms, instead of meat.  


Freezing:  I always make a double recipe so I can freeze the rest.  I put enough for two in freezer containers (usually 3 or 4).  It freezes with no problem for up to six months.

8 cloves of garlic

4 – 4-1/2 cups water

Olive Oil

Butter

Salt, Pepper

Dry Oregano, Bay Leaf, if you want

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Up to 1 Tablespoon of sugar