Homemade Spaghetti sauce

made in crockpot

For June's post I'm sharing my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe.  This is my family's recipe from my mom that I grew up with, learned to make in my teens and have made for my family ever since.   My mom always used canned tomatoes, plus sauce and paste and I did that for years but I've changed it up the last few years, adding more fresh vegetables (chopped kale or spinach, shredded zucchini, onions, garlic, sweet peppers and eggplant) and using only fresh tomatoes or ones I've canned myself instead of buying cans at the store.  I still use canned tomato sauce (although this year I'm going to attempt to make my own sauce) and paste, it's hard to replace the convenience of those. I also use a combination of fresh herbs from my yard and dried herbs.  I love growing herbs and have pots of thyme, oregano, parsley, several kinds of basil, sage, several kinds of mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, dill, rosemary and cilantro, I think that's it.  I go out in my yard and pick what I need, wash, cut and throw in whatever I'm making. At peak season in the summer when they are all huge, I make pesto and freeze it for pasta dishes or pizza later.  I shared my pesto recipe on another blog post. I brown hamburger meat in the skillet and then add shredded or finely chopped eggplant and cook it in the meat juices then add it to the pot of sauce.  Eggplant is great, it takes on the flavor of the meat and is healthy plus stretches 1 pound of meat to 2 so economical as well.  I use it all the time.  I get them at the farmers market, finely cut them up (most of the time I peel them 1st then they are hidden) and put them in quart freezer bags in my freezer.  I just break up what I want and add to whatever I'm cooking.  This is the cook for hours version to get the desired thickness and rich taste so I usually do it on a Saturday on the stove for 3 to 4 hours or in the crock pot all day.  I cook a large batch then freeze half of it for later.  It freezes beautifully. Most of the time we eat it the traditional way over a plate of spaghetti topped with parmesan cheese. Sometimes when I thaw a container of sauce from the freezer I make a pasta casserole with whatever kind of pasta I have, like shell or rigatoni, layering with shredded cheddar cheese and spinach or kale (fresh or frozen spinach or frozen kale from my baggies in the freezer) and either bake in oven for 30 minutes or heat in microwave 10 to 15 minutes until bubbly. It's a great quick meal for a weekday supper. Here's the recipe:






Spaghetti sauce






1 to 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained (can also add ground pork or Italian sausage to beef)
1/2 to 1 c chopped eggplant, (brown in skillet after meat is cooked)
4 to 6 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans)
1 onion, chopped
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped
1/2 c shredded zucchini
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 small cans tomato paste
2 T sofrito (recipe on another blog post)
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 t each, seasoned salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika
1 T each fresh or dried herbs, sweet basil, oregano, marjoram and parsley (can also add Italian seasoning)
1/4 t chili pepper flakes
can also add chopped fresh or frozen spinach or kale toward end of cooking






In large pot sauté veggies, except tomatoes in a little olive oil and water until tender.  Add tomatoes, cooked meat, eggplant, sauce, paste plus herbs and seasonings with several cups of water. Bring to boil then simmer, uncovered, 2 to 4 hours until thickened, or cook in crockpot 8 to 10 hours on high.  Serve on cooked noodles topped with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy, Bamah

made on top of stove

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Somehow May got away from me without posting anything and here it is June already. So here's a recipe to get me back on track.  I've been making chicken spaghetti casserole for several years and now it's a family favorite. It originally started when my daughter, Tabitha, volunteered me to cook a luncheon after church as a Bolivia mission fundraiser and had gotten the recipe from one of our church ladies.  It's really good, fairly easy and can feed a lot of people. Several of us met on a Saturday afternoon, got all the prep work done, making the casseroles and also tossed salad then all we had to do Sunday morning was to put the casseroles in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes to heat through. We served them with garlic bread and tossed salad.  My husband, John, loved it so much I decided to make chicken spaghetti at home and of course added vegetables to mine.  I mostly just use chicken breasts since we prefer white meat but other times use a whole chicken.  Cook the pasta in the chicken broth and a little water for extra flavor.  My husband loves it so much that a couple of years ago he suggested I make chicken spaghetti for our Beckman family reunion.  Every summer the Beckman clan meet up at Clarko state park near Meridian MS and each family group is assigned a night to prepare dinner for the group.  We usually have around 30 people to feed at any given night. The 1st year I made the chicken spaghetti casserole it was a big hit so now it's my go to recipe. I change up the vegetables depending what's in season at the farmer's market.  I always precook them either by steaming in the microwave or sautéing in a skillet on the stove before putting them in the casserole except for tomatoes, I always add them in fresh before putting in the oven.  Here's the recipe:

Chicken Spaghetti

cooked chicken, either whole chicken or several breasts, saving

cooking liquid to cook spaghetti in

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c sweet peppers, chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c yellow squash, chopped

1/2 c zucchini, chopped

1/2 c eggplant, chopped

2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped

1 box spaghetti or egg noodles

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 T sofrito

1 t each seasoned salt, pepper, onion seasoning, garlic seasoning,

parsley,  poultry seasoning

1 bag shredded cheese

Boil chicken in enough water to cover adding fresh or dried herbs,

parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, seasoned salt and pepper until done.

Let cool slightly and debone saving broth. Cook spaghetti in water and

chicken broth until slightly tender. Sauté chopped veggies except

tomatoes or steam in microwave until tender. Combine soups, seasonings

and a little broth in bowl.  In large casserole dish, assemble cooked

chicken, noodles, veggies and fresh tomatoes (can also add fresh spinach or kale if desired), add soup mixture and  stir a bit, top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes

until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy,

Bamah