Cooking Light Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

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

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 14

Ingredients

• 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 1/2ounce) 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.