Puma Family Spaghetti Sauce

This authentic Italian family recipe came from a dear friend, Mary Ann Puma-Murphy, about 40 years ago.  It was her grandmother’s recipe handed down through her family.  It makes quite a large batch and freezes very well.  In my humble opinion, this is the best spaghetti sauce I’ve ever tasted.  Four generations of my family have enjoyed this recipe…start a new tradition in your family today.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 pounds ground beef

1 pork chop

1 large onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart tomato juice

2 – 12 ounce cans tomato paste

2 – 12 ounce cans tomato sauce

1 tablespoon salt (I use sea salt)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons basil

2 tablespoons oregano

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

1 teaspoon paprika

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Brown ground beef, drain and set aside.

Preheat 10-inch skillet with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  Sauté onions and green peppers until tender.  Clear a space in the middle of the pan and add paprika.  Brown the paprika then mix with the onions and green pepper. 

Next add the garlic to the onion/pepper mixture.  Continue cooking for a couple of minutes.

Transfer garlic/onion/green pepper mixture to a large pot.  Add tomato sauce, then the tomato paste, then the tomato juice.  When adding the juice, use ¾ of the quart and reserve the other ¼ for later.  Mix thoroughly.

Add basil, oregano, and parsley to the mixture.  Stir.  Then add in salt and sugar.  Mix thoroughly.

Add ground beef, stir to blend thoroughly.  Now add the pork chop (raw).

Simmer over low heat, stirring every now and then.  Continue cooking for 6 hours or more (the longer it cooks, the better it tastes).  Add the remaining tomato juice if needed.  Sauce should be thick.

Note:  I cook my sauce in a large crock pot for at 8-10 hours (usually overnight).  The pork chop is important to the flavor; it just doesn’t taste the same without it.  After the sauce is done cooking, I cut the pork chop up and stir it back into the sauce.

Serve over spaghetti noodles with a salad and garlic bread and you have a delicious, authentic Italian dinner!  Squisito!