Pisagetti

Spaghetti, or pisagetti, as my 2 year old says, is a family favorite. It's so simple and easy to make your own sauce. If you use canned sauce you'll never go back. Umm....well sort of. This recipe is actually one of those "almost-home-made" recipes." Guess what else? It's really tasty too! All of the ingredients in here are estimations. I never measure when I make spaghetti. Put in close to what I call for, and vary the spices as you like them. Another hint. When I say ground beef in any recipe, I most certainly do not mean hamburger. I use ground sirloin, or chuck if I have to. At my house, we prefer to not eat the extra goodies that are put into hamburger meat. This recipe is very flexible. You could use cooked, shredded chicken instead of the beef, just add it to the sauce at the end instead of the beginning. You could pop open a few links of Italian sausage and use that instead of the beef. Green and black olives are also heavenly stirred into the sauce. If you need to, add in some diced veggies like mushrooms, zucchini, and carrots. It's really up to you!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic minced
1 (26 ounce, or so) jar spaghetti sauce, use whatever kind strikes your fancy
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, DO NOT DRAIN
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 bay leaves
1-3 teaspoons sugar
salt
pepper

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil, over medium high heat, until softened. Add ground beef and brown thoroughly. Stir in remaining ingredients, and any extra veggies or add-ins that you might want and cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Serve over spaghetti noodles.