Liz’s Kitchen: Mama Mantel’s Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

Ok, it's loosely Mama Mantel's sauce. She used to make this all the time when we were growing up. She said it came from the "Rotation Diet" so we call it "Rotation Sauce" in my family. It's a very hearty but easy to make spaghetti sauce...I could just eat this alone with a spoon. It takes a little time to put together but it's not a hard sauce to make at all. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do! For this recipe I made a double batch so don't let the photo of the ingredients throw you off.

Mama Mantel's Rotation Sauce 

1 lb extra lean chopped meat
1 large onion chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1 green pepper chopped
1 28 oz can tomatoes
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tea spoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
salt and pepper to taste

Obviously get all your cutting out of the way. Cut you pepper, onion and celery to the texture you like. If you like a little crunch dice them a little bigger.

Next take the meat, onion, pepper and celery and cook in a pot! Yes, a pot. You'll eventually be putting everything in here anyway so why waste a pan you'll just have to clean. Break up the meat and cook to brown the ingredients. Pour off any of the fat from the ground meat, if you desire.

Next add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and stir them all up. I like to pierce the tomatoes to let out some of the moisture and so when you go to eat it it wont explode hot tomato all over you.

Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for at least an hour uncovered until you reach the consistency you like. You can also add a small amount of water or 1/4 cup of red wine while it's cooking if you need to thin out the sauce.

I like letting it simmer for a long time AND this sauce is great reheated. This makes roughly six servings. ENJOY!