Running Creek Spaghetti Sauce

Roger/OH's Note:

This has become a classic at our house. Sometimes I brown sausage and hamburger to add to it for meat suace or if I don't get lazy I make meatballs. We often freeze the leftover suace for quick weekday meals.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Yield: 4.5 Quarts

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 medium onions , diced
• 1 green pepper , diced
• 4 cloves garlic , minced or crushed
• 1 (16 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 (46 ounce) cans tomato juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons oregano
• 3 tablespoons basil
• 1 teaspoon marjoram
• 1⁄8; teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1⁄16; teaspoon rosemary
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 (14 ½ ounce) cans whole tomatoes

Directions:

1. In a large stock pan, saute onions, garlic, and green peppers in the olive oil until the onions are translucent.
2. Add oregano, marjoram, basil, rosemary and crushed red peppers.
3. Saute a few minutes longer.
4. Add tomatoe juice and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to low and add the brown sugar.
6. Squeeze the whole tomatoes through your hand when adding to the pot and add the juice from the can to the pot also.
7. Add the remaining ingredients.
8. Simmer at least 3 hours The longer the better I usually start it in the morning and simmer all day.

Reviews

[VA]

Excellent sauce - made exactly as directed except I left out the mushrooms. I am wondering, though, is the fresh parsley necessary? I didn't notice the taste of it and went out to buy it specifically. Next time I'll try dried to see if I can taste the difference. I also might leave out the green pepper as my family is not a fan (although no one complained). Thank you for sharing your recipe!

[LonghornMama]

Great! Simmered most of the day then added Kim's Italian Meatballs. Omitted the mushrooms cause the kids don't eat them. Guess I got distracted cause I added a third can of diced tomatoes (rather than whole) by mistake and added a cup of wine, again by mistake, because apparently I hallucinated those parts of the recipe LOL. It was still wonderful! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[Rhonda in Texas]

Loved this sauce! The smell permeating the kitchen was wonderful, I just had to keep sampling. I love this recipe because of all the spices. The only thing I changed, was I only used 1/2 pound of mushrooms and that was only because I am not a fan of the fungi but my husband is, so I met him halfway on the amount. Thanks for another great recipe, Roger!