Jon's Amazing Spaghetti Sauce

My sweetie used to be inept in the kitchen. A few weeks ago, I was having a bad day at work, and he offered to cook me dinner. He asked me what I was hungry for. I was too frazzled to offer any suggestions. I let him decide. He emailed me, "How do you make your spaghetti sauce?" I rarely use a recipe, so I racked my brain and eventually wrote it down.

Ingredients

1 lb spaghetti or other pasta

2 TBS olive oil

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef, preferably chuck

½ lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

1 cup red wine

1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 TBS oregano

1 TBS basil

1 TBS parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

Pinch of brown sugar

Dash of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

Swirl the olive oil in a large skillet or a heavy-bottomed pot. When the oil is hot, add the peppers and onions. Season with salt and pepper. Saute the vegetables until they are translucent.

Add the ground beef and sausage and brown. When there are no visible signs of pink, pour in a cup of red wine. Turn the heat to high until the wine starts to bubble. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic and mix together. Simmer and stir occasionally and adjust the seasonings to taste while you wait for the pasta water to boil.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. The pasta water should be as salty as the ocean. Add olive oil to the water to prevent sticking. Boil the spaghetti until al dente, about 9-11 minutes.

While the pasta is boiling, add a pinch of brown sugar and a dash of nutmeg to the sauce. Ideally, I like to let the sauce simmer for a couple of hours, but it tastes great even if it simmers only half an hour. It's even better the next day.

Drain the pasta, but don't rinse it. Serve it tossed with the sauce and topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

The spaghetti turned out wonderful, and the house smelled amazing. Yesterday I was having another bad day at work. I melted when my sweetie texted me, "Would you like me to make you spaghetti for supper?" You already know what my response was. It was a perfect ending to a lousy day. Next time he asks me to teach him how to make something, I'll give him my bread recipe.