A Penne and pasta sauce blast!

The pasta came in at 350 calories - add another 150 for the garlic bread!

Who knew, but some Polynesian lady's casual remark would set me on the direction for creating a vastly improved pasta sauce!

I like making all my sauces from scratch and that's especially true when it comes to pasta sauces! After trying most of the bottled and canned commercial offerings, I've always thought they were lacking to one extent or another. So, as it happened one day, I was chatting with a lady named Brandy NGO when she remarked that the only form of meat sauce she preferred was one made with sweet Italian sausage. At first, I was against the idea, but in the interest of civility I decided to give it a go.

Here's the ingredient list I compiled:

½ lb sweet Italian sausage by Johnsonville

½ lb ground beef

½ bell pepper, minced

½ onion, minced

15 oz can diced tomatoes

15 oz can tomato sauce

8 oz can mushrooms, drained

1 tsp oregano, dried

1 tsp Basil, dried

1 clove of garlic, minced

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 dash cayenne pepper

1 pkg Penne or shell pasta

Directions:

Brown the Italian sausage and dump it into a slow cooker set to low. Next, dump in the tomatoes and tomato sauce right along with the herbs, garlic, salt and peppers.

While that deal is warming up, minced the onion and the bell pepper and then add them along with the beef to a frying pan and brown the meat. Drain and add it to the slow cooker.

After three hours, pour the sauce into a standard pot and simmer sans lid for another hour. This will reduce the sauce to just the right consistency. Voila! World class pasta sauce!

I like to use quick cooking pasta's like shell or Penne as you can prepare them in just a few minutes. When ready to serve, just mix in the sauce into the hot pasta and off you go!