Thick and Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

ratherbeswimmin''s Note:

From Southern Living.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 medium green bell peppers, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 -4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms, undrained
• 3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
• 3 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• hot sauce (about 3 drops)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup Burgundy wine (or other dry red wine)
• hot cooked spaghetti
• shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
• grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Saute onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic in hot oil in a large pot until the vegetables are tender.
2. Add in ground beef; cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble the meat; drain well and return to pot.
3. Stir in the next 15 ingredients; cover, lower heat and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
4. Take out bay leaves; stir in Burgundy wine.
5. On individual plates, spoon sauce over cooked spaghetti; sprinkle each serving with cheese, if desired.

Reviews

[cougarlicious]

Followed directions exactly, but when I tasted it, all I could taste was cinnamon and tomato sauce. Not exactly what I was expecting from this "thick and spicy" sauce. I ended up adding quite a bit to make this sauce closer to what I was looking for - dried basil, red pepper flakes, more hot sauce, more italian seasoning, black pepper. In the end, even with the addition of more hot sauce, red pepper flakes, and black pepper, the sauce was still dominated by the cinnamon and only had a light layer of heat.

[Chef #1259901]

My mom came to visit a few months ago and couldn't find her family recipe for this so I looked online and found yours. It was EXCELLENT - just like dear old moms! The *only* thing I'm doing different as I download it again for dinner tonight is that I will leave out the cinnamon. The cinnamon makes it a little too sweet and being from Texas, I like it spicy/hot, so I put a double of extra dabs of Tabasco in there to replace the cinnamon. Thanks SO much for this recipe! I can't WAIT to have it all week as leftovers.

[Chef #1009945]

I pretty much followed the recipe except I made the turkey meatballs by Ellie Krieger. I also added a few of my own spices to taste. Not the best sauce ever but will definitely make again.