Oven Roasted Spaghetti Sauce

The very first meal I ever made when I was cooking on my own was spaghetti. All those years ago I really didn't know what I was doing but over the years it has remained a staple in my home.  I have tweaked my recipe and thrown in a few twists of my own since then and it is now a real family favorite. On cold blustery days I make oven roasted Spaghetti, There is just something about your old favorite, hot and bubbly out of the oven with that slightly different roasted for hours flavor. It is very easy to make, In fact if you can make spaghetti on the stove top, you can make this.

Here is what you will need:

1.5 lbs of cooked ground beef
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
1 bottle of your favorite prepared tomato sauce
1 onion diced
1 Cup of chopped mushroom
2 Cups of your favorite bell peppers
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1.5 Teaspoons of garlic powder (or 2 cloves minced)
1 Teaspoon of fresh minced rosemary (about two stems)
1 Teaspoon of dried or fresh basil
 .5 Teaspoon of salt
1 Teaspoon of fresh ground pepper
1 Cup of grated parmesan (optional)

First prepare all of your veggies

I like my veggies kind of chunky but you can chop them as fine as you like.

Once you have them all chopped, add them to your frying pan with your olive oil and saute them until the onion is translucent and the veggies are just starting to soften. throw in a sprinkling of salt and some basil if you like (please excuse my frying pan Its old and has served me well but it will never look new again)

Once they are ready take those out and set them aside. Prepare your ground beef add your spices  (make sure it is cooked completely, drain it well.

Then add the beef and the veggies and your can of tomatoes and the juice to a large bowl.

Then add your tomato paste and mix it all up, then add your favorite sauce (if you have some you made from scratch then you are a queen and you should use that, me I use prepared sauce)

Once you have everything mixed up, it should look like this

At this point you can also add a cup of grated parmesan if you have it, if you don't want to you can leave it out. Then grab an oven crock or roaster and pour your lovely sauce in. I used this wonderful bean crock my mom gave me years ago, I have made so many wonderful meals in this thing.

Then you cover it up and pop it in the oven on 300 for about 4 hours, give it a stir every 45 minutes or so, it will darken and thicken, after about four hours spoon some over hot pasta and enjoy!

Its perfect for a cold blustery day, serve it with some hot buttered rolls or garlic bread. Its divine! 

This freezes really well, you can freeze some during the preparation if you think you have too much or after it is roasted. This recipe makes enough for a family of five but if you want less you can just reduce it if you like.

I hope you enjoy, let me know in the comments if you try it and like it.