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This recipe for Spaghetti with Basil and Double Meat Sauce is a new favorite in my house. This recipe uses a blender to blend the fresh basil into the tomato sauce. This allows for great basil flavor with an attractive looking sauce. Whenever I make grilled sausage or Glazed Italian Sausage I always make extra so I can make this dish on another night.

Spaghetti with Basil
and Double Meat Sauce

Preparation Time: 20 minutes. Cooking Time: 30 minutes
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound lean ground sirloin
5 links, Italian sausage, cooked and diced
10-15 fresh basil leaves
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 (4 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot. Add onions and minced garlic and sauté until tender. Add ground sirloin and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned. Add diced sausage and cook an additional 2-3 minutes (try to brown the sausage a bit). Meanwhile, place the basil leaves and the tomato sauce in a blender and blend well. Add this sauce to the stock pot. Place the water in the blender, swish it around and pour the “tomato” water into the stockpot. Add the remaining ingredients to the stock pot and simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours on low heat. You also can place this to simmer in a slow cooker on low for several hours. Adjust seasoning to suit your tastes. Serve over spaghetti noodles with Parmesan cheese.

This doubles well and also freezes well.