Bolognese Sauce

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat cook sausage until browned. Drain off fat, remove sausage from the pot and set it aside.

In the same pot, over medium heat, cook carrots and onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add a dash of salt and pepper and cook for several minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add mushrooms, oregano, basil, and additional salt and pepper if needed. Continue to cook until much of the liquid has evaporated and vegetables have cooked down. Stir in garlic and cook another minute.

Once vegetables are cooked, stir in red wine and allow to cook a couple minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add remaining ingredients: Worcestershire, sugar, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add cooked sausage. Bring to a low boil and reduce to simmer for 2 hours.

Serve over pasta, use sauce for lasagna or casserole dishes, use as pizza sauce or as a sauce for pizza burgers.

Cook’s note: A food processor works well in place of chopping or grating vegetables. Ground beef may be substituted for pork sausage, or use a mixture of half beef and half sausage. We prefer sausage to use as pizza sauce as well.