I grew up with a southern Italian style of sauce, which was always a little too watery for my liking. It was great, especially when cuts of steak, chicken, and homemade Italian sausage were braised in it. I personally always wanted a bigger flavor and more substance. Once I was away from home, I created my own. I've heard a lot of good OMGs when people taste my sauce.
Ray's Spaghetti Sauce
2 lbs 85/15 ground beef
1 lb ground Italian sausage (this is a key flavor ingredient)
1 large onion, chopped.
8 large cloves of garlic, chopped (a clove, not the head for newbies)
1/4 cup olive oil. Can skip the olive oil if using a non-stick Dutch oven.
Brown meat and tenderize onion and garlic together in an 8-quart Dutch oven. If you like more garlic flavor, which I do, I wait and add the chopped garlic with the ingredients below.
Add 2-30 oz cans diced tomatoes (or the equivalent of chopped fresh)
1 30 oz can tomato sauce
1 12 oz can tomato paste
Lightly rinse the tomato and tomato sauce cans with water and add to the sauce.
8 oz red wine (might be 12 oz because I just kind of dump out of the bottle and do a couple of circles in the pan)
1 rounded Tbs dried basil (or 1 cup chopped fresh)
1 rounded Tbs marjoram
1 rounded Tbs thyme
1 rounded Tbs oregano
(or can skip the basil/mar/thyme/oregano and add 1/3 cup Italian seasoning. There's a slight change in flavor, but you won't notice if making it for the first time)
1 Tbs sugar (you can skip the sugar and pulverize a peeled carrot in a food processor for sweetness)
1/2 Tbs fennel seed (another key flavor ingredient)
1/2 Tbs salt (can use less, but don't omit. If you use too much, add some sugar to counter the saltiness).
1 tsp cayenne or red pepper flakes (optional), or
1 tsp ground black pepper for a lighter heat.
Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and simmer covered for 4 hours, stirring occasionally to avoid burning, which will ruin the sauce. The sauce will be done WELL before 4 hours, but you'll miss the magic that happens between 3 and 4 hours. The ingredients reach a level of surrender where the sauce smoothes out and the meat becomes butter tender. You can actually see the change that takes place when you stir it. The sauce won't separate on the plate if you simmer it for the full 4 hours.
Now, you gotta have some rustic bread handy, because the red fat on the top of the sauce is pure flavor gold when a chunk of bread is dipped in it. My sister and I often declared war on each other as kids fighting for that dipped bread.
I'll come back and look at this later to see if I forgot anything. This recipe is kind of ingrained in my soul, but it's late and I'm old. The kids go nuts when I make a sauce for them.
BTW, I never measure. The palm of my hand is my measure for all the above ingredients. So, there's that. My daughter has made this recipe and said it tasted just like mine.
It's fantastic the first day but will be even better the second day.