Spaghetti with Mushroom and Sausage Tomato Sauce

This one all started when SO asked me where the tomato sauce was.  As in the big can of store bought sauce one would dump on spaghetti.  It was getting late, and was a weeknight. But still, a certain amount of righteous indignation welled up in me. I wasn't going to let the late hour and our tired old bones get in the way of doing something a bit better than dumping a can of sauce on spaghetti. We've all done that once in a while, but generally as a student.  In any case, I promptly took over and rooted around in the fridge. There wasn't much as we were due for groceries, but still it would work out fine.

Ingredients for the mushroom sauce

I ran down to the freezer and pulled out a package of sausages from the local butcher, and ran them under water to get them unstuck and somewhat unthawed. The rest of the raw materials ended up being onion, garlic, 2 jalapeno peppers, and a variety of wild mushrooms from a previous recipe. I took the casings off the sausages and started browning it. From there it went pretty quickly.

Mushroom and Sausage tomato sauce simmering away

Simmering away for 20 minutes was all it took. We didn't have any fresh pasta, but oh the sacrifices we make (major-eye-roll).

Spaghetti with Mushroom and Sausage Tomato Sauce

Next Time: I didn't even taste the jalapeno, so either eliminate it or bump up the spice

Me: 8/10

SO: 8.5/10

SSO: 2/10

Spaghetti with Mushroom and Sausage Tomato Sauce

This will make a large batch, several suppers or lots of lunches.

Ingredients

• 5 or 6 sausages, casings removed and roughly chopped
• 3-4 Cups of coarsely chopped mushrooms. I happened to have portobello, shiitake, and  bellas
• 5 or 6 diced garlic cloves
• 2 medium onions, diced
• hot peppers (optional, whatever variety you like)
• 2 x 28oz cans of tomatoes. I used 1 diced and 1 crushed, but that's what was in the pantry.
• fresh if you have it, otherwise: 2 tsp dried basil, 4 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp thyme
• oil for cooking
• salt & pepper for seasoning
• your favourite pasta

Method

1. Heat up a large pot of water for the pasta.
2. Heat up a second large pot, and brown the sausage in a bit of oil. Crush it into bits as you cook it, but don't worry about stuff sticking to the pan since we will scrape it up later. Once cooked, remove to a bowl.
3. Throw in the onion for a few minutes with a bit more oil, then add the mushrooms. Once they start releasing their moisture, cook a minute longer then add the peppers and garlic. Once fragrant but before browned, pour a few glugs of wine to deglaze. 
4. Add the cans of tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper along with the rest of the spices. Stir well and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
5. When the sauce is half done simmering, start cooking the pasta. 
6. Dish everything out and enjoy!