Making sauce (updated!)

A couple of priests are coming over Wednesday evening for dinner and confessions, and I decided to make lasagna. Why lasagna? Simply put, because it'll basically cook itself without too much tending; and it'll be easier to put away before we head over to church for confessions.

So lasagna Wednesday means making sauce today.

I found a recipe online, which calls for a mixture of Italian sausage and ground beef -- I doubled the quantity; that way I can either make two pans of lasagna, or else have sauce left over (or both).

So first I chopped up some onion and smashed some garlic. Then I started that with a little olive oil in the dutch oven, followed by the meat:

The directions said to let that all brown nicely; so while it was doing that, I chopped up some parsley, and put it together with the other seasonings: some sugar, some basil, some Italian seasoning and Fennel seed, and salt and pepper. I stirred it all up in a cup while I waited for the meat to finish browning.

Then I looked again at the directions. I was supposed to keep half the parsley to mix with the ricotta cheese. Oops!

Then I opened up the cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce. When the meat was brown, I dumped in the dry ingredients first, then the tomato items. Last I put in a cup of red wine (the recipe called for water). When I saw the mix, I decided to throw in some leftover tomato sauce. It should work out fine.

So I stirred that all up, and let it simmer. I'll finish this up later tonight, after Holy Mass.

Oh, and a little trick of mine. I used the wine to "wash" out the dry ingredients and the tomato sauce from the other containers, so nothing is wasted.

Now I'll go check on the sauce...

Update, 6:18 pm...

I've actually checked the sauce several times. It's cooking down nicely. I am using a trick I learned from a Sicilian priest who serves in a nearby city: when you lift off the lid, be careful not to let the condensed water fall back into the sauce; instead, pour it off. This way, you gradually concentrate the flavors.

Speaking of which, I decided to add several more cloves of garlic (you can't have too much!) and some oregano. And I thought it needed a bit of heat, so I threw in a few dashes of Franks. But -- I can't taste it now, because of the communion fast!

I'm going to stir it once more before I go over for Holy Mass...

Update, 8:37 pm...

OK, back from Holy Mass, more on that in a moment...

First, a sauce update. The sauce looks good:

And it tastes good, except -- it's not very spicy. So I added some more fennel seed, Italian seasoning, pepper sauce, salt and pepper. It's still simmering.

But before I did that, I got a couple of potatoes cleaned up and on the boil -- those are for my dinner tonight; the sauce is for Wednesday. I got a couple of steaks out of the freezer the other day, and I'll broil 'em both tonight, keeping one for tomorrow or the next day. I dredged them in Montreal-style steak seasoning, and they're marinating in that while the potatoes boil. I'll mash the potatoes while the steaks cook. I think I have some peas in the freezer, that'll go well. And don't forget the wine I opened earlier!

Update, 9:41 pm...

Still checking the sauce...it tastes pretty good! I'll put it in the fridge when I go to bed. Meanwhile, for those who are interested, here's tonight's dinner (Now all gone):

Update, 12/9/14...

I forgot to mention Holy Mass last night.

First, it was packed Standing room only. That's how we roll in Russia, Ohio!
Second, it was "high Mass"--meaning a full complement of altar servers, all in cassock-and-surplice (and gloves!), with incense and torches for the consecration. The boys love it and take it very seriously. I sung almost as much as I could.

I love being in a parish where the people put their Faith first!