"Roasted" Tomato Spaghetti Sauce

Yesterday, I decided to make spaghetti sauce for an event I was hosting in the evening. I started the sauce at 8am so it could cook down all day and the flavors would be perfectly blended by the evening. So, let me share with you my recipe and the adventures while preparing. Had I been really on the ball, I would have captured this in stages on camera. Next time, I'll try and treat you all to some photos.

First, I browned about a 1 1/2lbs of ground beef with a chopped yellow onion, 2 cloves of garlic and salt and pepper. Then, drain the meat and add back to the pot on low heat.

Add 2-3 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of stewed tomatoes, 2 cans of tomato paste, 2-3 cans of tomato sauce. Italian seasoning, brown sugar, beef broth. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Here is where things got interesting. I had to leave the house for a bit during the day. So, rather than leave the burner on unattended and risk burning down the house, I turned it off. When I came back home I turned the fire back on to medium. Now the plan was to heat the entire pot back up and then return the heat to low.

While the pot was heating up, I started a painting project in the spare bedroom. A friend came over and we had been painting away for at least an hour, when I became aware of the scent of "roasting" tomatoes. I dropped the paintbrush to the ground and rushed to find an entire pot of spaghetti sauce on the verge of ruin, scorched an inch thick on the bottom of the sauce pan. YIKES!

After uttering a few strategically placed harsh words, I suddenly found myself on a mission to rescue the spaghetti sauce remaining. As fast as I could, I removed the non-blacked portion of the spaghetti sauce from the pan and cleaned the sauce pan up. Ready to go again, I added the sauce back to the pan with a cup of beef bouillon and tomato sauce in hopes of thinning it out and masking any of the burnt taste that might be remaining.

After all was said and done, my guests began to arrive. There was still a faint scent of "burn" in the air as we served up dinner. As I sat down to try and choke down my own plate, it started. "This is such a great sauce," "Did you make this homemade?" "I love sauce like this."

It was all I could do to choke back the laughter. "Thank you, it's made with 'roasted' tomato's. Guess that is what the extra flavor comes from."

Want to try something delicious, simple and good for you. Sweet Potato fries are he answer. I had these first at Cafe Express and have fiddled around preparing them at home. The best and easiest method I have found so far is to oven bake them.

Just slice up 1-2 lbs of peeled sweet potatoes. The thinner they are sliced, the crispier the get. However, keep in mid this is NO easy feat. Slicing up a raw sweet potato is about as easy as lifting a 100 lb weight bar.

Mix the potatoes in a sealed bag or bowl with 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil, sea salt and paprika to taste.

Spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350. Turning after about 15 minutes or golden brown.

Mmmm...I promise they will be a hit!