Title: Zesty Spaghetti Sauce
Categories: Entree Italian Pasta Sauce
Yield: 8 Servings
| 4 | tb | Olive oil |
| 2 | | Onions, chopped (one red & one white) |
| 4 | | Garlic cloves, chopped |
| 3 | lb | Fresh or canned red Italian plum tomatoes |
| 1 | c | Tomato juice |
| 5 | tb | Combined fresh herbs: basil, thyme, oregano rosemary, etc. |
| 1 1/2 | lb | Hot and sweet Italian sausage |
| 1/2 | c | Red wine vinegar (use balsamic!) |
| 2 | tb | Tomato paste |
| 1 | tb | Sugar |
| | | Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste |
| 1/8 | ts | Cayenne or red pepper |
| 1 | tb | Fennel seeds |
Heat the olive oil in heavy, large saucepan. Add the onions and garlic and
cook until soft. Cut up the tomatoes roughly and add to the pot. Add half
of the juice from the cans, along with the fennel seeds and 2 tbs of the
herbs. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Fry the sausage (after taking it out
of the casings, if it has them) in a separate pan, drain off fat and add to
the sauce. Taste the sauce and add the remainder of the juice, vinegar,
tomato paste, sugar, salt and peppers as necessary to have a rich flavor.
Move lid to half cover, and simmer over very low hear for 1/2 hour,
stirring occasionally, so that the sauce does not scorch on the bottom of
the pan. The sauce may be frozen or refrigerated for several days at this
point. Toss the rest of the herbs in just before serving and stir to mix
in.