Hearty meals, canning and putting up soup for quick dinners to be had later all seem like home to me. And, now that Tahoe is my sometime home, it's a part of the cabin experience as well. I always seem to have more time for cooking and enjoying family dinners when I'm up in the mountains. It's part of what has made the last few ski seasons wonderful, and hopefully is the beginning of a lifetime of memories.
A few weeks ago, Mom came up and lent an expert hand to the process by making homemade spaghetti sauce. In true Mackh-family style, the recipe is a dash here, a handful there, a smidge of this, and a dab of that, but you may attempt to replicate it at your own risk, using the ingredients below. It was (and is) delicious, thanks to my super-talented mother. Grandma Enid would have been proud of us!
Ingredients:4 cans of Trader Joe's tomatoes
2 cans of Trader Joe's tomato paste (rinse cans and put water in the sauce)
1 can of organic pumpkin (plain, unsweetened)
Fennel seed, Oregano, Marjoram, Basil, Pimenton, to taste
4 cloves of garlic
2 big onions
2 large packages of mushrooms - shiitakes and baby Portabellas3 big carrots, grated
3 zucchini, grated
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt, to taste
1/2 to 1 cup red wine
2 packages (8 links) of spicy chicken Italian sausage
Chopped greens, parsley or kale, added just before serving
Carmelize the onions and garlic in a bit of water at the bottom of your stock pot. Shred the carrots and zucchini and add them to the mix. Slice the mushrooms and add to the pot, then add your spices, pumpkin, tomatoes, red wine, lemon juice and tomato paste. Allow the mixture to cook on low or medium heat for a few hours. Add more liquid (water, wine, lemon juice), to thin the sauce if desired. Once all of the ingredients are incorporated and thoroughly cooked, the pasta sauce is ready to serve. Immediately before serving, chop fresh parsley or other greens and stir into the hot sauce to provide fresh green color and contrast. Boo-yaa!
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