It's Some Spaghetti In There!

I'm from Memphis. So to me, spaghetti IS a side dish. Preferably eaten alongside fried fish, coleslaw and hush puppies. Get into it!!! (Or I guess you can go all weird on me and eat this as a main dish with some garlic bread... *cue eye roll*). At any rate, I believe this is the absolute best spaghetti recipe out there, so call your cousins and ‘nem for the fish fry and enjoy! 

ingredients

Ground chuck 1 pound

Ground pork 1 pound

1/2 tsp garlic

2/3 tsp onion

1 tsp salt & pepper

3-4 tbsp heavy cream (optional)

2 celery, stalks

1 medium sweet onion

1/2 green bell pepper

1 package baby portabellas

directions

Using a large enough pot to hold the spaghetti, brown meats w/ 3-4 tbsp heavy cream (optional); don't overcook! It will still simmer in the sauce

Drain grease off the meat and set aside.

In a food processor (or, if you're a G- chop by hand): 2 celery stalks, 1 medium sweet onion,1/2 green bell pepper, 1 package baby portabellas

In the pot that was used for the meat, sautée veggies with 1-2 tbsp butter

Return meat to the pot and combine the veggies and meat

Add 2 cans stewed tomatoes (I prefer Hunts)

Add 2-3 spaghetti seasoning packets

Add (Hunts) 6oz can of tomato paste

Refill the empty tomato paste can 1 1/2 times with water and add to the sauce

Season the sauce:1 1/2 tsp garlic, 1 tsp onion, 2 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning, 2/3 tsp basil, 2/3 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp oregano,3 dashes cayenne, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp chipotle powder

simmer on low 15 minutes

While sauce is simmering. Boil THIN spaghetti noodles according to the package. After pasta is done drain it and toss it in a little olive oil. Then add the pasta to the sauce gradually and stir. I usually use about half the box of pasta for this amount of sauce.

Serves 10-12 people (but if serving a smaller number of people note that the sauce freezes really well too, so you can always put some away for later, and just boil fresh noodles when you're ready to enjoy!)