Ground Beef Pasta Sauce

By spend with pennies

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
1 large onion (diced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
28 ounces canned whole tomatoes (or canned diced tomatoes*, 1 can)
28 ounces canned tomato sauce
1 large green bell pepper (diced, or red bell pepper)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons ground sage
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper
â…' teaspoon ground allspice

Prep Time20mins
Cook Time75mins
Servings8

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine ground beef with sage, fennel seeds, thyme, pepper, and allspice until well mixed.

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef mixture, onion, and garlic, breaking up the meat with a spoon. Cook until browned, drain excess fat if needed.

Add the canned tomatoes with the liquid, tomato sauce, green bell pepper, water, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, sugar, and salt to the pot. Stir well to combine.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour or until the sauce has reached your desired consistency. Stir occasionally.

Once the sauce has thickened, stir in the chopped parsley and basil.

Remove bay leaves, taste and season with additional salt and pepper. Serve over hot pasta.