Italian Meatsauce

Recently, on a 'broke' night and after watching Goodfellas, I went to the market in search of something simple to make.  I ended up buying 3/4 lb of ground pork and 3/4 lb of ground sirloin, 1 can of tomato paste and 1 large (29 oz) can of crushed tomatoes to make meatsauce.  I didn't buy the San Marzanos, but next time I think that I will. (I bought a local organic label, for what its worth)

I started by putting the tomato products, two small diced roma tomatoes, some italian seasoning, dried basil a bay leaf, salt and pepper into a large saucepan on low.

In a separate saute pan on low, I sweat a dried red pepper, 4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic and a small onion in some olive oil. After the onions take on a nice translucent color (but before they turn brown) I put them in the large saucepan. I then ground the pork and beef separately with some salt and pepper, drained and put into the saucepan. I left the whole thing simmer for about an hour.

I served over thin spaghetti and sprinkled some grated parmesano reggiano on top and for about $12 it made 6 servings of the best meatsauce that i've ever had. Imagine - for barely more than the cost of a jar of Prego, you can make something that's 10 times more delicious.