Secret Sauce

I'm home alone today and despite the beautiful weather, I don't feel like training much. I'll be biking to work the rest of the week anyways so I better keep my strength for that.

So I decided to take the free time and work on my special spaghetti sauce. Most runners like to have a heavy carb load before a race even if the science no longer justifies it. I feel it gives me a good boost and it's a celebration and mental preparation at the same time. I like the store bought spaghetti sauces but I feel that my special sauce is better and more nutritious. So here is the recipe.

I start out by cutting up all my vegetables:

• 1 celery diced
• 2lbs of carrots diced
• 3 onions diced
• 1.5 lbs of mushrooms, sliced

I then cook my ground beef (5 lbs) with a clove of garlic that I previously chopped finely.
While the beef is cooking, I cook and slice hot italian sausages and then pan-fry them so they are crispy.
Once the meat is all cooked, I add in the onions and cook for a while longer, seasoning with some oregano, basil, savoury and garlic salt. As the onion mixes in, I add the tomatoes. You can use fresh tomatoes if they are in season. I used a mix of canned crushed tomatoes (1.5L), diced tomatoes (750ml), tomato paste (700ml) and tomato juice (1.36L). Keep the stove warm until it starts boiling, at which point you throw everything else in there and mix vigorously. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer all afternoon. I add hot peppers, tabasco sauce and basil leaves to the sauce to give it extra taste. I mix every now and then and add salt, pepper and other spices to taste.

After a whole afternoon of simmering, all that is left is to boil some pasta and serve:
You can have this with some garlic toast as in the picture. I also add freshly grated cheese (mozzarella and parmesan).

This makes a whole boatload of sauce so be prepared to freeze most of it unless you are feeding an army. If you know me personally and are curious to taste this, let me know. You can either come for dinner or I'll bring you some to try at home.

I am now ready for my pre-race meal in a month and a half :)