Pasta Sauce

1-1/2lb. ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
12oz. tomato paste
28oz. can crushed tomatoes or 2 15oz. cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 bay leaves
2 Tbsp sugar
4 tsp basil
2 tsp. oregano
4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp salt, or to taste

Brown the beef with the onion. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer, partly covered, for 2 hours. You can do this in your crockpot, if you wish. Freeze in ziplock bags, or use immediately.

I use this recipe for plain ol’ spaghetti and meat sauce, but I also use it in place of pizza sauce and pepperoni for pizza. Or, we make Pizza Bread by spreading this on a loaf of French Bread, sliced lengthwise, and sprinkling with mozzarella cheese. The possibilities for this sauce are quite limitless!