jamieson wrote:saute' garlic and onion
add the ground beef let it brown and cooked
add hotdogs and mushrooms
then add tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce
let it boil..
put little bit of salt and pepper to taste
that's how i cook my spaghetti sauce!
Hotdogs? Your're not filipino, are you?
Anyway, this is my "Little old Italian lady from Brooklyn" basic marinara. You can multiply the recipe depending on how many "cans" worth of sauce you want to make.
28-oz can of crushed tomatoes*
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 of a large onion, finely chopped
sprinkle of chopped basil leaves (only necessary if the can of tomatoes doesn't already have basil in it)
a splash of roasting/frying olive oil (This idea that you have to use Extra Virgin olive oil for absolutely everything in cooking is a common myth. For basic sauteing, a cheaper frying olive oil imparts a more appropriate flavor)
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan. And onions and saute for a few minutes, then add the garlic. Saute until the onions turn translucent, but be careful not to burn the garlic. Burnt garlic will destroy a pot of sauce. Put the onions, garlic, tomatoes (and possibly the basil) in a medium-to-large sized pot. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until the sauce has reached the desired thickness.
Said little old Italian lady also has an awesome meat sauce variation on this, but that's of the "high guarded family secret entrusted to family members and immediate friends of the family" variety.
*(note on using fresh tomatoes: unless you grew them yourself, or you bought them directly from the farmer, canned tomatoes are better. Why? Because tomatoes you buy from the supermarket are bred for two things: long shelf life and the toughness to handle the commercial shipping process. Taste is not a concern. Tomatoes grown for canning, however, do not need to be shipped, or handle sitting on the shelf, so they can be grown with taste as the primary concern).
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