Spaghetti Sauce Recipe TNT & I have a ??

[Callisto in NC]

Here's the recipe, it's my mothers. She was a master at it and would do it in the crock pot but I don't have the same crock as she does. I'm going to try my slow cooker and see.

2 cups chopped onions
2 tablespoons oil
1 lb ground beef
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp MSG
1 cup water
2 - 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
2 - 1 pound cans tomatoes
1 - 3 ounce can mushrooms
1/4 cup parsley
1 1/2 tsp oregano or sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf

Brown ground beef. Saute onions. Mix all ingredients together and cook on low not less than 1 1/2 hours.


Now to the question... my mom always added sausage to the sauce but it's not in the recipe. I also think she doubled this recipe because it doesn't seem like there is a lot there and her recipe lasted a long time. What I want to know, do you boil the sausage before you cut it up and put it in the sauce? I'm doing this tomorrow since it's too late now to start.

 

[jennyema]

Regarding the sausage, I'd brown it first, cut or uncut and then let it cook in the sauce. Browning is where all the meaty flavor comes from.

Also, sage and oregano taste totaly different and are not interchangeable, IMO. Definitely go with oregano in an italian-type tomato sauce. Marjoram and oregano are related and more interchangeable.

 

[kitchenelf]

I agree - I would definitely brown the sausage first and really, almost to the done stage. And like jennyema said - browning will definitely intensify the flavor. Scoop up the sausage gathering some of the fond as you go to add to the crock.

 

[Callisto in NC]

Regarding the sausage, I'd brown it first, cut or uncut and then let it cook in the sauce. Browning is where all the meaty flavor comes from.

Also, sage and oregano taste totaly different and are not interchangeable, IMO. Definitely go with oregano in an italian-type tomato sauce. Marjoram and oregano are related and more interchangeable.

I'm so glad I asked because browning never entered my mind.

I have no explanation of the oregano OR sage thing. That seems odd too but it's how the recipe was written. What I think is my mom wasn't doing it when she wrote it and couldn't remember. I was going to go with oregano and was debating both. What struck me was no basil. But I'm going to follow it to the letter (with adding the sausage as the exception) and see if it works.

 

[kitchenelf]

I noticed no basil also - and I'm a HUGE fan of thyme, just not really in my spaghetti sauce. Also, for future reference - try some fennel seed - it's YUMMY in spaghetti sauce, as well as a "healthy" dose of red wine

 

[suziquzie]

I never thought of using the crock pot to simmer it thats a good idea! No matter how low I set my pot on, if I leave it too long i get a litte burnt to the bottom if I don't stir every 10-15 min or so. I bet it wouldn't in the crock. Thanks!

 

[jennyema]

I never thought of using the crock pot to simmer it thats a good idea! No matter how low I set my pot on, if I leave it too long i get a litte burnt to the bottom if I don't stir every 10-15 min or so. I bet it wouldn't in the crock. Thanks!

Cooking it in the oven also helps eliminate scorching.