Sauces can make or break a dish. They can make an average meal special, or they can be the meal when served over pasta or something else. I remember my Grandmother making her spaghetti sauce -- we called it "spaghetti gravy"-- for many of the holidays. Before food processors were popular, she and my mom would grind the celery, onion and garlic in a manual meat grinder to get the right consistency. Needless to say, making the sauce was a much more time-consuming project back then than it is now. It takes me about 5 minutes with my food processor to do something that took considerably longer with a meat grinder.
I keep a couple of batches in serving-sized containers in my freezer all the time so that I always have a quick meal for the busy nights or a great side dish for get-togethers. I use this sauce with pasta, ravioli, lasagna, with meat balls, spaghetti squash ... you get the idea. It's a very versatile sauce.
During Lent, my grandma used to make the sauce with cooked shrimp instead of ground beef and sausage so that we could eat it on Fridays, when Catholics abstain from meat. Because it was a treat to have shrimp, I think she would add extra -- I for one am guilty of sneaking into the kitchen and stealing a couple of shrimp from the sauce before dinner. And I don't think I was the only one who did it, either. If you want to make the sauce with shrimp, use the vegetarian recipe and add the cooked and peeled shrimp about an hour before you plan to eat.
Traditional Spaghetti Sauce
Healthier Spaghetti Sauce
Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce
