This recipe makes a generous batch that can be frozen in smaller quantities for those last-minute meals. Substituting ground turkey and chicken sausage for the ground beef and pork sausage offer a healthy alterantive that your family will love, and they probably won't know the difference!
prep time: 30 minutes
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 lb. chicken Italian sausage (I get this at the health food store, but you may be able to find it in traditional grocery stores, too. Turkey Italian sausage also works well)
1 medium bunch celery (8-10 stalks)
1 medium white or yellow onion
3-4 cloves fresh garlic
3 T. olive oil
2 28-oz. cans tomato puree
1 28-oz, can crushed tomatoes with basil
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
1 T. ready-to-use chopped basil
Combine ground turkey and sausage in a large frying pan and brown until it is cooked. Set aside. Chop celery and onion into pieces that will fit into a food processor. Using the chopping blade for your food processor, combine celery, onion and garlic and process until ingredients are well-chopped and liquidy.
In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add celery, onion and garlic mixture and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Add browned ground turkey and sausage to the celery mixture and combine. Make a well in the center of the pot. Add tomato puree and crushed tomatoes, stir. Add two cans of water (use the cans from the tomato puree so that you get all the puree from the can and don't waste any of it) and add to pot; stir. Bring sauce to a boil, stirring frequently. After the sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 4-5 hours.
Remove sauce from heat and stir in the parsley and basil. Allow sauce to cool before putting into freezer containers, or serve immediately over cooked pasta or spaghetti sauce.
For a variation, omit the ground turkey and chicken sausage and add 1 1/2 lbs of cooked shrimp to finished sauce.
