Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 lb bacon chopped
2 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. finely chopped green pepper
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 (2 lb 3 oz) cans Italian plum tomatoes
3 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
1 1/2 c. dry red wine (optional)
5 t. oregano
5 t. basil
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. chopped parsley (fresh)
2 t. thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
2 T. salt
freshly ground pepper

Fry bacon until crisp in a wide six quart sauce pot. Remove bacon and all except 2 T. of fat. Save both bacon and extra fat. Add ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until brown, stirring occasionally. Stir in onion, green pepper and garlic and cook 10 minutes. Add more bacon fat if needed. Mash plum tomatoes with a spoon. Stir the tomatoes and tomato paste, bacon, one cup of wine (optional) 4 t. each of oregano and basil and all remaining ingredients into the sauce, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Taste after and hour of cooking and correct the seasoning, herbs vary and so do personal tastes. If you make the sauce early, cool and refrigerate it until an hour or two before dinner. Let it warm to room temperature before you reheat it. 10-15 minutes before serving, blend in one teaspoon each of oregano and basil and 1/2 cup wine, if you wish. Serve sauce in a tureen and let everyone ladle it out onto plates of spaghetti. Be sure to provide plenty of grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

Part of the success of a sauce depends on what is underneath it. The spaghetti should be cooked al dente, just on the chewy side, which means boiling it 8-10 minutes - drained well and eaten while it is piping hot. Figure 3 lbs. of noodles for 12 people and cook it in plenty of rapidly boiling water. you will Need 2 enormous pots, the 10 qt size if you can get them. One handy trick when you're trying to get a lot of pasta into pots quickly is to float a spoonful of oil in the water. When you stir in the spaghetti the oil will help keep the strands from cooling - cooking in clumps and stop the water from boiling over. "Spaghetti" comes in many sizes, from fine vermicelli to wide linguine, but the thinner the the pasta the easier it is to twist around a fork.

Meatless Spaghetti

6 minced garlic cloves
1 c. chopped celery
1 medium onion, chopped
2 T. cooking oil
6 small zucchini chopped
1 green pepper
1 can sliced ripe olives
4 beef boullion cubes
1 jar sliced mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes
2 large cans tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) tomato paste
1 T. brown sugar
1 T. grape jelly
2 t. dried basil
2 t. dried oregano
2 t. dried parsley
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 lbs. spaghetti

Serves 14

Saute onion, garlic, celery in oil - add zucchini, green pepper and olives - add remaining ingredients and simmer one hour

Minestrone Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion
4 carrots grated or sliced
1 can beef consume
1 t. oregano
1 qt. tomatoes
1 1/2 qts. water
1/2 t. basil

Cook for 2 hours

Add: 1 can green beans, 1 can kidney beans
1 cup small macaroni

Cook for 3o minutes

Lasagne

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 or 2 cans stewed tomatoes (1 qt if bottled)
about 4 c. tomato sauce (not paste)
2 T. basil
1 t. salt
1 onion diced
3 c. grated mozzarella cheese
1 (8 oz) carton of ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese sot sprinkle on top
about 9-12 extra wide lasagna noodles

Brown ground beef and drain. Add tomatoes, spices, tomato sauce. Saute onion in small amount of olive oil, add to sauce. Simmer 1-2 hours on low heat. Cook noodles till barely tender in salted boiling water about 7-10 minutes. Drain.

In 9x13 pan, place layer of noodles, then sauce, then ricotta (ricotta is easy to put on with a decorator bag, you do not need to use a tip), layer of noodles, sauce, mozzarella, third layer of noodles, sauce and more mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake 350 for 30-40 minutes