tehlunix.org

My birthday is right around the corner. The tradition in our family is to tell Mom what you want for dinner and dessert and it magically appears on the table when we all get together to celebrate that birthday. This year, I decided to do things at my place. That kinda means that I have to cook. Oh, the humanity!

I decided on Lasagna with garlic bread for dinner. I want carrot cake for dessert. Some will say they don’t go together. Carrot cake goes with everything when it’s this good.

I make my spaghetti sauce the old-fashioned way. I add a bit of this, some of that, mix in more of that, and then let it simmer all day. I’ll be estimating measurements for the “recipe” so those that want to follow along can.

First off, I need ingredients. This usually means a trip to Antonio’s for some italian sausage without fennel. The batch of sauce for lasagna needs about a pound of sausage. I picked up more because I need extra sauce for my brother (who hates lasagna. there will be pasta for his sauce). And, of course, I need sausage for the lasagna. GET GOOD SAUSAGE.

I’ll get the rest of my ingredients either at Antonio’s, Meijer, or wherever I can get good, fresh ingredients. We’ll need roma tomatoes (or whole canned tomatoes), ground chuck, onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, marjoram, sage, basil, olive oil, salt, black pepper, red pepper, brown sugar, chianti, and some water.

If you’re using fresh tomatoes, you’ll need to peel the tomatoes, first. Blanche those babies and set them aside. If you’re using canned tomatoes, keep reading.

Saute the beef, sausage and an onion in some olive oil. Don’t forget to slice the casing on the sausage and JUST cook the meat. We don’t want the casing in the sauce. Half-way through the sautee, add about 5 cloves of FINELY-minced (or pressed) garlic. You could also do the Goodfella’s thing and slice the garlic paper thin so it pretty much dissolves into the sauce. I figure a really fine garlic will do this, anyway. We add it later in the saute because garlic burns easily and we don’t want to burn it. Now just cook the fat right out of all that meat. Drain the fat and put the pot back on the stove.

Look at that meat!

Add some wine. I always use chianti. And I never use a $5 bottle. I usually add about 1/4C for each pound of meat in the pot. Add the tomatoes one at a time. I peel them then cut them over the pot and just let the juice run in. After all the tomatoes are in, let that sit for a little while to cook the tomatoes. If you’re going to add tomato paste (I did), add it now. Add about 1C of water. Let this simmer for about a half-hour to cook the tomatoes.

Added tomatoes

Now attack that sauce with a potato masher. You want to pulverize them tomatoes. Mmmmm. Add a dash of red pepper, about 1/2t of freshly-ground black pepper, and your italian seasoning. I add about 1/2T each of parsley, oregano, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, sage. I add about 1T (or a little more) of basil. You’re also going to add about 1/4C of brown sugar, a few bay leaves, and about 1/2t of salt.

spices

ready to stir in

Half-cover the pot (so it doesn’t splatter all over your stove) and let it simmer all day. 4-6 hours minimum. Stir it every hour, or so, to make sure you don’t get anything burnt on the bottom of your pot.

And now: INGREDIENTS (as close as I can come to real numbers, anyway)

• 1# ground chuck
• 1# italian sausage, no fennel
• 1 small onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 4T olive oil
• 8 roma tomatoes (or 1 big can, no herbs)
• 2cans CONTADINA tomato paste (no herbs)
• 1/4C brown sugar
• 1/2T oregano
• 1/2T thyme
• 1/2T marjoram
• 1/2T sage
• 1/2T rosemary
• 1/2T parsley
• 1T basil
• 1/2t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 t cayenne
• 1/2C chianti
• water
• time