Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Linoleum Quilt Block and Nona's Spaghetti Sauce

Linoleum Quilt Block Pattern Information

I had an unexpected Snow Day from school last week - perfect to spend time in my kitchen making Nona's Spaghetti Sauce!  This is a family recipe from one of my daughters-in-law.  It's her great-grandma's special sauce.  Her great-grandma came to the U.S. from Italy as a young bride, so the recipe is authentic Italian!   

Nona's Spaghetti Sauce

1 medium onion
2-3 pounds ground beef
2 pounds Italian sausage (not links)
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
3-4 small cans chopped mushrooms

Fry the above ingredients in a 12-quart stockpot.

Add:
6 (29 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (12 ounce) cans tomato paste
2-1/2 (12 ounce) cans water

1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon allspice
4 bay leaves
2-1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper

Stir all the ingredients together.  Once the sauce is boiling, sprinkle two teaspoons of baking soda over the top and let bubble, stirring in.

Let sauce simmer at least 4 hours covered.

Makes 8-9 quarts.

* I didn't have a 12-quart stockpot so used two smaller stockpots, an 8-quart one and a 6-quart one.


The simmering sauce made my house smell wonderful, and I now have one quart of spaghetti sauce to use in my lasagna tonight and 8 quarts to store in the freezer for future meals. 
 
 
A wonderful way to spend a Snow Day!
 
This is actually the first time I've ever made spaghetti sauce! Even though I make many things from scratch, I usually just buy my sauce already prepared from the grocery store.  Do you have a special spaghetti sauce recipe or do you just buy the sauce in a jar?  Inquiring minds want to know!  
 
You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post Quilters' Book Club Selection for February and a Winner!

4 comments:

  1. I usually buy my spaghetti sauce and then doctor it up. I will buy a meat flavored or perhaps garlic flavored and then add my meat, more veggies, etc. I did have a family recipe but one of my dog chewed it up. Some place i still have most of the pieces of it but haven't ever taped it all back together. I'd have to consider it a jig saw puzzle. That was an all day spaghetti sauce recipe that my mother got from a chef in a restaurant years ago. Hmmm. Now you make me want to go find my tape and the recipe. LOL.

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  2. I use Hunt's pasta sauce with garlic and herb usually. I have made when I was younger and there weren't many in stores to buy.

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  3. I make mine from scratch and don't measure the spices - just employ the dash or dump method :) I've never put allspice in my sauce so I'll have to give that one a go the next time I make it!

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  4. This sauce sounds wonderful! I have it pinned and intend to give it a whirl on my next cold, icy day. I sometimes buy sauce in a jar, sometimes I make my own simple and quick with canned crushed tomatoes. I rarely make sauce for lasagne and such--I use the jarred sauce for that. Jarred sauce is so good these days, not like when I was a kid and everything in a jar was sticky sweet!

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