My Mama Iuliucci's Don't Skip A Step Spaghetti Sauce

Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients

• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato puree
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup romano cheese
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• italian sausage or home-made meatballs
• 1 -2 spareribs (optional)
• leftover cooked chicken thighs or chicken leg (optional)
• pepperoni (optional)

Recipe

• 1 combine tomato products in large stock pot or dutch oven.
• 2 add a 28 ounce can of water and stir.
• 3 bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
• 4 sprinkle with sugar, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, garlic powder, parsley and grated cheese and stir to combine.
• 5 in a frying pan, heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil and fry up your sausage or meatballs until cooked through.
• 6 add the meat to the simmering sauce, along with any optional meats (recommended) mentioned in ingredients.
• 7 now, this is an important, not to be left out, step: add chopped onions and garlic to pan that meat was fried in.
• 8 do not drain anything before adding onions and garlic-- there should be some drippings/oil left in the pan!
• 9 fry onions and garlic until tender and aromatic.
• 10 remove pan from heat.
• 11 another important step, not to be left out: add about 1/2 cup water to the pan and swish around, combining the leftover drippings and onion and garlic.
• 12 pour and scrape it all into the simmering sauce.
• 13 stir to combine.
• 14 let simmer for 3 hours or until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.
• 15 i keep mine only half way covered, so it cooks down and gets thick and rich.
• 16 remove pepperoni, chicken and ribs if used.
• 17 remove meat from bones of chicken and ribs and add back to sauce in small shreds.
• 18 discard pepperoni, eat it, or chop it up and add it back to sauce.
• 19 serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy.