I am half Italian and my husband loves my old spaghetti sauce recipe with pasta or with veal parmesan. I just made him his favorite meal and wanted to share my spaghetti sauce recipe with you. This old spaghetti sauce recipe, originated from my grandmother who was born in the late 1800s. Who knows how old this old spaghetti sauce recipe really is. The oxtails have been replaced with beef stew meat, as oxtails are not always easy to find. I hope you enjoy it, as our family has used this recipe for decades.
Ingredients
- 5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large yellow onions, chopped
- 3 (or more) cloves minced garlic
- 1 lb. ground sirloin
- 1 lb. lean beef stew meat, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 lb. package of gluten free sweet or hot Italian sausage (depending upon your taste) – 5 or 6 sausages (See Gluten Free Product List for brands) (or the equivalent in beef stew meat and ground beef)
- 1 4 oz. can mushrooms (pieces and stems); chopped, ½ lb. fresh mushrooms; or small package dried mushrooms, soaked in red wine overnight, chopped
- 5 teaspoons Italian seasoning; or a mixture of oregano, marjoram, rosemary, savory, sage, thyme, and basil (or any combination, thereof)
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley (or fresh chopped parsley)
- 5 dried bay leaves
- 1 ½ cups red wine (robust, full-bodied, young red wine) - Do not use cooking wine.
- 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes (including juice), chopped or pulsated in food processor
- 1 large (12 oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 small (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 large (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 small (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
- water (see below)
- 5 teaspoons sugar
Directions
- Stab holes in sausage with a steak knife, about 4 stabs each of the 2 sides. This will allow the fat to drain while cooking. Add to large frying pan. Add about ¼” water. Brown the sausages. You can start it out on high and then once the water has evaporated lower the temperature to medium-high. Once the sausages are brown remove from range. There is no need to cook them all the way through. Pat off excess oil with a paper towel. Set aside to cool. Once cooled slice width wise into about 1/3” circles. If you wish to add meatballs this would be the time to make and brown them and set them aside as well.
- Heat your stock pot. Once heated add olive oil.
- Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions are transparent.
- Add sliced all meat, including sausage, and cook until meat is no longer read on outside.
- Add mushrooms, parsley, Italian seasoning and wine; cover; and sauté 10 minutes more.
- While the mixture is sautéing, empty whole tomatoes into a bowl with 2 knives cut up into small pieces or pulsate in a food processor. You want to leave the tomatoes a little chunky. You use can also use diced canned tomatoes
- Once the meat mixture has completed the 10 minutes of sautéing, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste into the meat mixture pot. You can use some hot water to get the last bit out of the cans by scraping the sides of the can with a spoon. If you use about a half to a whole can of water for each can of tomato sauce and paste you will have enough water in your sauce.
- Add sugar, stir. Add meatballs, if you desire. Let simmer for at least 3 hours. The longer it cooks the better it will taste.
- As the sauce becomes too thick add additional water to taste. Some like it really thick and others like it saucy.
- Freeze leftovers in several air tight containers. I like to freeze several different sizes, for individual meals, family meals and for company.
Tips
You may also like to make this recipe without the Italian sausage. I just made some, substituting more beef stew meat and ground beef for the sausage, but added a bit more beef.
© All rights reserved. 2010 - 2012 All content, photos and images are copyrighted 2010 - 2012 Gluten Free Recipe Box. Any images or recipes we have used with permission are copyrighted by their owners.
















