Italian Meat Sauce Recipe

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Italian Meat Sauce

This sauce makes about 14 cups, but only 6 cups are needed for the lasagna. Freeze extra sauce in zip-top plastic freezer bags, and use later for another meal. 
 

This recipe goes with Lasagna With Italian Meat Sauce without Ricotta Cheese.

Ingredients - Sauce

Extra virgin olive oil

2 pounds extra-lean ground beef

1 pound mild italian sausage
2 large onions, chopped
2 medium-size green bell peppers, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 (26-ounce) jarred pasta sauce (I used a jar of Newman's Own Tomato & Basil and a jar of Newman's Own Marinara)

About ½ cup red wine (leftover from a prior meal is perfect)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 tsp rosemary

4 tbsp oregano

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp red pepper (I used dried Thai chili peppers that we grew in the garden over the summer)

Directions

Add olive oil to a large saute pan.

Cook ground beef and sausage until meat crumbles and is no longer pink.. Drain well.

Pour sauce into a large dutch oven over medium heat.

Put red wine into pasta jars and shake. Add to sauce.

Using the saute pan that the meat was cooked in, lightly saute onion, peppers, and garlic until a very light brown (Just enough to bring out the favors).

Add meat in batches to sauce .

Add remaining vegetables to sauce.

Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 45 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Yield: Makes about 14 cups (serving size: 1/2 cup)

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