Great Canadian spaghetti sauce

PREP TIME

12 min

Makes

10 cups (2.5 L)

* PLUS Cooking time: 40 minutes

Photo, Erik Putz.

Our test kitchen assistant, Victoria Walsh, loves this specialty of her dad, David Williams. Unlike most pasta sauces, it's loaded with chunky veggies and a rich combo of Canadian classics: bacon, maple syrup and beer. Yum, eh?

Ingredients

250-g pkg sliced bacon , about 8 slices
2 onions
2 227-g pkgs sliced button or cremini mushrooms , or a mix
355-mL can beer
2 sweet bell peppers , preferably different colours
2 carrots
2 796-mL cans plum tomatoes
156-mL can tomato paste
2 tbsp maple syrup , or brown sugar
10 garlic cloves , minced
2 tbsp dried basil
2 tbsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp hot-red-chili-flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 bay leaves

Instructions

Slice bacon into thin strips, then place in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Stir occasionally until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, finely chop onions.
When bacon is crispy, add mushrooms. Stir often until they start to soften, 4 to 6 minutes. Then stir in onions. Pour in beer. Scrape up and stir in any brown bits from pan bottom. Increase heat to high. Boil, stirring occasionally, to develop flavour, 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop peppers and carrots. Stir tomatoes into beer mixture. Using a potato masher or wooden spoon, gently crush tomatoes. Then stir in peppers, carrots, tomato paste, maple syrup, garlic, seasonings and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncovered and stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 25 to 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Toss with cooked spaghetti. Sauce will keep well, covered and refrigerated, up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 months. Defrost and reheat sauce in microwave. Or place frozen sauce in a saucepan with a little water. Heat over medium, stirring often.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories
183,
Protein
5.8 g,
Carbohydrates
22.5 g,
Fat
8.8 g,
Fibre
4.2 g,
Sodium
491 mg.

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