Spaghetti Sauce – Charla Recipe - Caprece Specialty

(you gotta love the fine china - Spider Man Style :)

The first time I ever tasted this sauce was at my Aunt Charla's home. At the time she was living in a mobile home on some property that my grandmother owned in Marianna, Florida. This sauce is just one of the many wonderful Memories I have of my Aunt Charla, affecionately known to me as "Charly". It was splendous, like no spaghetti sauce I had ever before tasted. Granted I was only about five or six at the time but still it was amazing. I think it had a lot to do with all the extras (Which I haven't listed here because I thought it best to stick with the base...you are welcome to dress it up any way you like.) The extras I am specifically referring to are the olives. I was unfamiliar with just what they could do for a meal til that indelible moment. It of course followed that once my sister Caprece married, she called Charla for her spaghetti recipe. It was immediately a favorite and served regulaly at her table. She had it down to a science. I of course lean on her experience and Charly's genius when I create this sauce...

(Please ignore the brown sugar...I took pic in front of my canisters...ooops!)

Ingredients:
© 2lbs fresh ground beef (80/20 works best)
© 1 TBS Olive Oil
© 1 large onion, chopped
© 6 cloves garlic
© 3 teaspoons oregano
© 3 teaspoons garlic salt
© 2- 6oz cans tomato paste
© 1- 15oz can tomato sauce
© 4 cups of water
© 1- 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes (optional)*
© ½ jar of kalamata olives or 4 oz can of sliced black olives (optional)*

*Caprece didn’t use olives because her family doesn’t like them but she added petite diced tomatoes. Charla uses black olives but not petite diced tomatoes. And I use kalamata olives and petite diced tomatoes. This sauce tastes yumilicious whatever way you dress it up.

Directions:
Chop onion and garlic. Drizzle olive oil in skillet and place skillet on burner set to medium high heat. Place onion and garlic in skillet. Add 1 teaspoon of Oregano and 1 teaspoon of garlic salt. Cook onion and garlic until they begin to soften about 3 minutes. Add ground beef, the rest of the Oregano and garlic salt and brown. Place tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, petite diced tomatoes, and olives in dutch oven. Add the ground beef mixture and salt to taste (Please note if you are using kalamata olives DO NOT add any salt! The olives add additional salt.) Cook covered over medium low heat for at least 30 minutes. Serve over your choice of pasta…our’s is Angel hair or as the Italians call it – Capellini with salad and lots of garlic bread.

Mediteranean Style Pizza

This is my husband Rodrigo's favorite pizza. He likes it better than any of the store bought self-rising pizzas or any of the poplular pizza chains. I created the pizza just for him after hearing him critique other pizzas. I use a pre-made store bought thin and crispy crust(his preference). Sometimes I make my own pizza sauce and sometimes I just use store bought. Either way it is super Yummy...just ask him :)

Ingredients:

• 1 thin and crispy pizza crust
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 5 slices of provolone cheese
• 4 oz ofshredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 oz of shredded parmesean blend cheese
• pepperoni (as much or as little as preferred)
• 1 can of artichokes packed in juice NOT OIL - drained and quartered.
• small jar of kalamata olives - drained and sliced
• small jar of roasted red peppers - drained and sliced.

Preheat the oven as directed for the pizza crust. My pizza crust requires that you preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Spread the pizza sauce over entire pizza crust. Arrange the provolone pizza slices over the sauce to cover the pizza crust. Arrange pepperoni over provolone cheese. Sprinkle a handful of the mozzarella cheese over pepperoni. Arrange the last for ingredients over the pizza then cover with the remaining cheese. Place in oven and cook. Remove slice and serve.