Recipe: best meat sauce for spaghetti

Best Meat Sauce for Spaghetti
1/2 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
1 (2 pound 3 ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes, undrained
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti
1 tablespoon salt
Grated Parmesan cheese

Remove sausage meat from outer casings; chop sausage. In a 5-quart Dutch oven, over medium heat, sauté ground chuck (break into chunks with wooden spoon), sausage meat, onion, green pepper and garlic, stirring frequently, until meat is browned and vegetables are tender ? about 20 minutes.

Add sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, crushed red pepper and basil; mix well. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and 1 cup water; mash tomatoes with wooden spoon. Bring to boiling; reduce heat; simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

To serve, cook spaghetti as package label directs, adding 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water. Drain well.

Serve spaghetti with sauce, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Makes 8 servings.