Heloise's Spaghetti Sauce

Submitted by Naturelover

"I'm posting this recipe so that its not lost"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup butter
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 slices finely chopped bacon
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 bay leaf, chopped fine (I just would throw in whole)
• 1 tablespoon salt (I would probably start with 1 teaspoon)
• black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed dry red pepper flakes
• 2 ounces red wine
• 2 (15 ounce) cans whole tomatoes or (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 1 finely chopped carrot

directions

1. Heat olive oil over low heat in a pot large enough to hold all ingredients. Add butter and simmer until melted. Add onions and saute until lightly browned. Add ground beef and bacon; saute till browned, stirring occasionally.
2. Add garlic parsley, bay leaf, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Cook over low heat 10 minutes. Add wine, cover and steam for a few minutes more.
3. Add tomatoes or tomato suce, tomato paste and water. Bring the mixture to a boiling point and add the chopped carrot. Cover and cook over ver low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over your favorite cooked pasta.

Reviews

[lp7510]

This recipe is great, pretty much how my mother made spaghetti sauce, she liked to pick Friday nights to have Spaghetti. I saw this recipe in a book by Heloise. I thought that in the book, Heloise said that she used to put some (small amount) of leftover bacon grease into the spaghetti sauce. I don't see that in the online version though. Still. a great recipe !

 

[CoExGal]

This is fabulous, and is authentic Italian. I found my original recipe, from Heloise's column, that I clipped some thirty odd years ago, and it is slightly different than the one here. Here are the minor differences: She does not mention adding a Bay Leaf (although that is fine, as Italians do use it). And, although calling for a tablespoon of salt, you are correct that this is too much, especially if you use coarse salt such as sea salt. Besides 1 finely chopped carrot, her recipe also calls for 2 stalks of finely chopped celery as well. She does not mention using a 6-ounce can of tomato paste; rather, just 2 tablespoons. And finally, she adds 1 cup tomato puree to the cans of whole tomatos or tomato sauce. Her originally recipe actually calls for tomato JUICE as an alternative to the whole tomatos; however, Italians never use tomato juice in their spaghetti sauce. Another note: Italians use pancetta, and not bacon. I have used both, and they are both delicious!

 

[JudyCC]

LOVE this recipe, it's been my family's favorite spaghetti sauce for years. My changes: I don't use either the olive oil or butter called for at the beginning of the recipe. I use the bacon's fat for saut?ing the onions. Just get the bacon going a bit until it releases some of it's fat, and then add the onions to saut?. I even get rid of the excess bacon fat after the saute is completed. Proceed with rest of recipe as written. One of the other changes I sometimes do although not always, is to make the sauce without the ground beef added in. I make meatballs and grilled sausage, and serve these in a separate dish, and then at meal time people can make their own plate of pasta, sauce, meats. Lastly, I find making this sauce a day before serving does improve the flavor of the sauce---better on the 2nd day! Enjoy!

 

[TransplantedHusker]

I made this yesterday and used it for lasagna...EXCELLENT. I agree that 1 tablespoon of salt is a bit much for me, next time I will decrease it. I threw in some Italian spices per my family's preferences. It makes a ton so I have leftovers for another meal later this week. It is NOT an overly tomato-y sauce but a thick meat sauce. I would suggest cooking your hamburger and bacon separately, at least partially, from the primary mixture to allow for skimming of additional grease. Don't be afraid of the olive oil/butter combination as it adds a wonderful richness to the sauce - I use the same combo in pizza sauce, etc. I did add some sugar to the sauce, I think more out of habit than anything else. I did not have red wine on hand, so I threw in a few shakes of Worcheshire sauce and a bit of water to let it steam. I'll certainly have red wine next time! Enjoy and be well.