The key to this classic spaghetti sauce recipe is fresh ingredients. Although you can substitute with dried parsley and basil, your sauce will be nowhere near as good if you had used fresh. So it's definitely worth a trip to the grocery store to pick up some fresh basil and fresh parsley!

Sicilian Spaghetti Sauce with Sausage

1 pound (approximately) mild or hot sausage, ground
1 28 oz can Cento brand tomato puree
1 28 oz can Cento chef's cut tomatoes with basil
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 Tbs fresh garlic, finely minced
1/3 cup yellow onion, minced
4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Add one Tbs of olive oil to pot and brown the sausage. When completely brown, pour out olive oil and grease and move sausage to separate bowl. Now add your remaining olive oil to pot. Add onions, parsley, and basil. Stir until onions begin to turn clear. The parsley and basil should be emanating a wonderful aroma.

Add garlic and stir for no more than two minutes as you DO NOT want the garlic to turn brown. Return sausage to pot and stir briefly, allowing the flavors to mix.

Pour tomato puree and canned chopped tomatoes into the pot. Salt and pepper to taste (I use 1/4 teaspoon of each).

I find the best pasta for this sauce is angel hair.

When your pasta is al dente, pour out the water and then return the spaghetti to the pot in which it cooked. Lower the heat on the burner and spoon out three tablespoons of sauce into the pasta. Stir well. The spaghetti will take on the color and flavor of the sauce -- this is actually delicious in itself!

Remove from heat and the pasta's ready.

You can cook the sauce as long as you want. The longer you cook, the more you'll have to skim the grease and tomato waste off the top. Also the sauce will get thicker as you cook.

I like to cook for no more than one hour.