Cooking Light Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

Redsie's Note:

My new favorite recipe for Spaghetti Sauce! The secret ingredient is.... roasted red bell peppers! Cooking Light adapted recipe.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 14

• 1 1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef
• cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups diced onions
• 1 1/2 cups diced green bell peppers
• 1 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups shredded zucchini (about 2 large)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 (7 ounce) bottle roasted red peppers, undrained
• 14 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 1 3/4 pounds uncooked pasta)

Directions:

1. Cook the meat in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain meat well, and set aside. Wipe out pan with a paper towel, and coat with cooking spray.
2. Place the pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the diced onion, diced bell peppers, mushrooms and minced garlic, and sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add zucchini, and sauté 5 minutes. Drain vegetables. Return meat and vegetables to pan, and stir in dried oregano, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Cook mixture over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Add sugar, crushed and stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and roasted red bell peppers to pan, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until sauce is thick. Serve the meat sauce over pasta.

Reviews

[Mary Dudek]

My kitchen is currently being remodeled. I have been challenged these past few weeks to create nutritious meals in my laundry room using only an electric skillet, crock pot and microwave. Here is a really easy way to make this delicious sauce. Put all of the ingredients into a crockpot (you'll have to brown the meat first) and let it simmer all day. How easy is that? This recipe makes a lot so store it in freezer bags for a quick meal when you don't have time to cook. I also served this with some italian sausages that were simmered in beer for about an hour. Yum. Thanks for posting this recipe. We all enjoyed it.

[Diane S]

I have made this recipe for several years now. I gave it 4 stars because the peppers do not agree with me. I still love this recipe and will continue to make it. I now use my crock pot to cook it in. Don't feel like hanging around the stove for at least an hour.

[Lil Mama T]

Sounds so delicious, but it sure is high in carbs! YIKES!!!