Noboundaries, Is that pasta sauce a family secret or is it possible to find on this site??
Not a family secret, but a sauce I created that evolved from my Italian mother's sauce. Her's was very light and watery. I like a thicker sauce packed with flavor. She paid me the ultimate compliment once and said my sauce was better than hers.
Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who can duplicate it exactly. It will probably die with me, like so many of the flavors from my Italian mother and grandmother. I've written it down, but my kids, who are both great cooks themselves, just can't duplicate it for some reason. The palm of my hand is the measuring cup. The meat in it varies, but always includes Italian sausage and ground chuck. There's a taste test required about two hours in to adjust the end result. At that point I usually add something to take it where it needs to be. Then it is essential the sauce simmers for at least four hours total. It transforms by that point from individual ingredients in the same pot to a blended oneness that just makes love to your tongue. When you put it on your pasta, there's no watery bleed, just pure flavor.
The sauce includes browned Italian sausage, ground chuck, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, diced tomatoes (or whole tomatoes squeezed by hand), crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red table wine, and occasionally tomato paste, depending on the amount of liquid in the canned tomatoes. It is better with fresh tomatoes, like this time of year, but I usually fix it in the winter for some reason.
As much as I want to make this right now, I'll hold off. I'm on a "shrink Ray" program right now and pasta isn't included. I made a chicken breast and brown rice with my spaghetti sauce earlier this week. It was satisfying, but not the same as pasta.