Hearty Spaghetti

I make a nice hearty spaghetti every now and then, and normally from scratch until I figured out that it is so much easier and less messy to just use a "traditional" ragu (you know, that jar crap you get at the grocery store). I know, "gasp"! Really though, its just plain tomato sauce and a good base to build on. I am going to post my traditional recipe, but rather than making the sauce from scratch, omit the sugar and tomato sauce/paste and use Traditional Ragu (this is good, especially if you don't have time for the full "homemade" version).

Ingredients

4 (15) ounce cans tomato sauce

1 small can of tomato paste

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1lb ground beef

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

1-2 green peppers, chopped

Mushrooms (if you care to ruin the sauce by adding them)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

to taste:

Salt

Black pepper

Cracked red pepper

Oregano

Basil (I prefer sweet)

Garlic powder (if you add garlic salt, omit the salt from above)

Fresh or dried parsley

Directions

Brown the beef and drain the grease. Heat the olive oil in large stock pot and add the chopped onion and green pepper. Sautee the peppers and onions enough to make them "sweat". Add ground beef, seasonings, tomato sauce, tomato paste and sugar. Stir completely to combine. Simmer on low for 4-5 hours (or put this into a crock pot). Stir occassionally. Serve with your noodle of choice and garlic bread. Yum!