Good For Days Italian: Sweet Basil Bolognese

I can almost always go for a big bowl of pasta.  I have made bolognese sauce according to various recipes over the years, and this is probably my favorite combination of flavors.  The added bonus is that I can make one huge batch, serve half that night, and freeze the other half flat to save for a rainy (read: lazy) day when I don't feel like cooking.  Tonight was one of those nights (rainy and lazy), and I was positively thrilled to remember that I had almost an entire meal already prepared in my freezer!


Usually I don't like to list specific brands unless it's absolutely necessary, but I have elected to link to a few here because I think that they make this sauce what it is: absolutely delicious!

SWEET BASIL BOLOGNESE

• 1 20-ounce package of sweet Italian sausage
• 2 medium sweet onions, diced
• 1 medium head of garlic, peeled and diced
• 2 large green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 4 portobello mushroom caps, coarsely chopped
• 1 jar prepared marinara sauce
• 2 14-ounce cans of seasoned diced tomatoes

Remove sausages from their casings, crumble and brown over medium-high heat in a very large skillet or dutch oven.  When sausage is almost fully cooked, add onions, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms.  (You can drain some of the oil at this point if you're worried about fat content.  I don't.  I like the extra flavor.)  Cook until onions are translucent, then add marinara and tomatoes.  Reduce heat and simmer for anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.

(Serves 8-12)

After two weeks in my freezer, the flavors were even better.