Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

by Cody Beckner

Ingredients:

  • 1lb of ground beef
  • 2 large Prego (traditional)
  • 1lb of Italian sausage
  • 4 slices of bacon
  • 1 package of sliced mushrooms (~2 cups)
  • 1-2 tblsp of minced/diced garlic
  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 cup red wine (merlot/shiraz/chianti/etc)
  • fresh basil
  • oregano
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder

Instructions:

Note:  This will make a LOT of meat sauce, so either fiddle around with the proportions, or be prepared to feed a lot of people / have leftovers.

In a LARGE pot (or crock pot), pour both bottles of Prego sauce and combine 2 minced basil leaves, a large sprinkling of dried oregano, and a pinch or two of salt and start on a very slow simmer for 4 hours.

In a large skillet, combine the butter, garlic and bacon.  When the bacon is mostly reduced, add in the mushrooms and sauté the mushrooms.  When the mushrooms are nearly finished, pour the wine in and continue to cook until the wine is mostly reduced.

Leaving the grease and wine in the saucepan, carefully scoop the mushrooms and bacon into the sauce.

In the saucepan mix the beef and the sausage and sprinkle with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt (to taste). Once the meat is cooked, drain off all the oil and combine the meat into the sauce.

Check on the sauce every 15-30 minutes and stir completely to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom or sides as well as mix the sauce that has bubbled to the top back into the sauce.

After the sauce has simmered for ~3.5 hours, start cooking the noodles.