Italian - The Art of the Red Sauce

Every Italian family just like mine, has a homemade spaghetti "red" sauce recipe that they hold dear to their Italiano dishes.... here is mine :) 

Ingredients: (**I like to DOUBLE or TRIPLE this recipe and then freeze half or more than half of the sauce since it isn't something you prefer to make because it is pretty time consuming...)
1-1/2 # ground round (you can always use ground sirloin or ground turkey for a lower fat option)
24 oz Hunt's tomato sauce
24 oz Hunt's tomato paste
12 oz water
1 bay leaf
1 tbl oregano
1 tbl basil
1 tbl parsley
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tbl sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp minced garlic


Prep:

~Cook meat and brown in frying pain, drain grease
~ In separate pot, add sauce, paste, water, garlic and all spices in large pot over low to medium heat – bring to low boil – stir often
~ Once done, add meat, cover and simmer sauce 2 – 3 hours - be sure to STIR OFTEN, you don't want the sauce to burn...
~If you decide to double the sauce, freeze half :)

I like to use a ground beef chopper like above to make the meat smaller 

Sauce before adding meat

Add meat to sauce, mix in well, stir often. Simmer for 3 hours on low

Voila! Dee's sauce!!