I will acknowledge upfront that is probably not traditional but it's tasty. And the hubby loves it so that's good enough for me.
I use it for more than just spaghetti. I've used it for my macaroni bake and lasagna as well.
This makes about 5 quarts of sauce. It freezes well, just to make sure let it cool to room temperature before freezing it in a sealed container. In fact the batch I made today was strictly for this purpose. Now we'll have some for when we want some.
Spaghetti Sauce
2 28 oz cans of tomato sauce
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
6 oz of tomato paste
1 can of medium olives, drained
1 large onion chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
8 oz of mushrooms, chopped (preferably crimini)
A heaping tablespoon of minced garlic
About a 1.5 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
Large pinch each of basil and oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Chop your vegetables. We like ours chunky so I cut mine large but you can chop them as small as you prefer. Don't want whole olives? Sliced olives work just as well.
Toss everything into a crock pot and give it a good stir. I generally set mine on high for an hour and then move it to low for another 5 or 6 hours. It is one of those recipes of the longer you can let it simmer the better. I give a stir around half way through and taste it. Adjust the seasonings as you see fit. I normally add more salt and pepper at this time since I go lighter in the beginning. It's always easier to add more salt and pepper than it is to counteract it.
I give another taste near the end to make sure the flavor is good. If it is, I turn it off to cool so I can ladle it into containers or use some for whatever I'm making. The rest I let cool to room temperature in their containers before putting the lids on and stick it in the freezer.
It really is that easy.
