Ingredients

 1-2 lbs Ground Beef (or any other meat you want.  Ground beef is traditional.  Don’t worry about the fat content as you will be draining it.)

3 Large cans Hunts Tomato Sauce  (Large cans are the size bigger than 15 oz.  If you store doesn’t carry the large size, get –5-6 15 oz. Cans and keep 1 in reserve.)

2-3 Yellow Onions

Seasoning:  Just like in the song, “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”, also Marjoram, Oregano and Sweet Basil.  The simplest thing to do is go to the spice section of your grocery store (usually in the same aisle as cake mixes) and look for “Italian Seasoning”.  This should include everything except the Parsley which you can also get in the spice section.

Garlic (Dried Garlic Chips do just fine)

Red Wine (optional)

Some Assembly Required

 Peel and chop up the onions.  How finely you chop them depends on how finely you like your onions chopped.  Watch your fingers.

Open the cans of Tomato Sauce.

In the large cooking pot, break up and brown the ground beef, thoroughly.  Dump the browned ground beef into the colander to drain.  (It is recommended that you do this in the sink.)  Do not clean the pot.  Put it back on the stove on Medium-High heat and put the onions in the pot.  Sauté the onions in the fat, stirring constantly, until they begin to turn translucent, or burn, whichever comes first.  Add the Tomato Sauce.  (This is why you opened the cans before – you don’t have time to fight with the can opener at this point.)  Dump the ground beef back into the pot and stir.

Now add the Seasonings:  2 Handfuls Parsley[1], 1 Handful Italian Seasonings, 1-2 Handfuls Garlic Chips, Black Pepper to taste[2].

Red Wine.  There are two sides to this:  The wine adds flavor to the sauce; but it also makes it more watery, so you have to simmer it longer.  It’s up to you.  I usually “float” a little on top of the sauce, then stir it in.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer 4 hours or until done.

 Done is a relative term.  The longer you simmer it, the thicker the sauce will get.  Bear in mind that a sauce that is cooked, cooled and re-heated will be thicker on the second heating.  You should at least cook the sauce for a couple of hours to allow the dried seasonings to completely develop their flavor.  Simply put the pot on the back burner and stir whenever you happen to come into the kitchen.

Yield

Enough to feed a small army.  If you are expecting a larger group, just add ingredients as long as you keep them in proportion.  Any leftover sauce does very well in the freezer.  Place 1-2 servings in a plastic bag and lay flat in the freezer.  Once they are frozen, you can “file” them in the back.  To re-heat, defrost until you can get it out of the bag and cook in an appropriate container.  Don’t try to cook it in the bag, it’s hard to stir that way.

Spaghetti:  Cook according to package directions.  Clean the ground beef out of the colander before draining.