Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey and Italian Sausage

We’ve had a lot of rainy days lately, and I have been in the mood to make slow-simmered soups, stews, and sauces. I decided to make some pasta for dinner one night, so I made this slow-simmered meat sauce with ground turkey and Italian sausage recipe. The sauce smelled unbelievably good while it simmered in the oven all afternoon. I loved the flavor and texture of this sauce, and it tasted fantastic on whole-wheat spaghetti. We all enjoyed this spaghetti with meat sauce recipe and thought it paired nicely with our house salad and some crusty bread. I had plenty of sauce leftover, so I put it in a zip-lock freezer bag and froze it for another rainy day.

Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey and Italian Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 2 turkey Italian sausages, removed from the casing
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 small carrots, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes, more if you want it extra spicy
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1 (6-oz) can of tomato paste
• 2 (15-oz) cans of tomato sauce
• 1 (29-oz) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Spaghetti, cooked per instructions (I used whole wheat)
• Parmesan Cheese, grated
• Parsley, chopped

How to Make Slow-Simmered Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey and Italian Sausage

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the ground turkey, turkey Italian sausage removed from casings, and the onion.  Cook, stirring often to crumble the beef and sausage, for 4-5 minutes.

Add the carrots, garlic, dried basil, crushed fennel seeds, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste, and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add the chicken broth, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar, stir until well combined.

Cover with a lid and place into the oven for 3-4 hours.

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Skim the surface for any fat.

Add the chopped basil, then taste and re-season if needed.

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to the package instructions, then drain.

Serve the sauce on top of the spaghetti, then top with Parmesan and fresh parsley if desired.

Slow Simmered Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey and Italian Sausage

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Course: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 10 - 12

Author: Pam - For the Love of Cooking

Equipment

• Large Dutch oven

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb of ground turkey
• 2 turkey Italian sausages removed from the casing
• 1 small yellow onion diced
• 3 small carrots diced
• 6 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp fennel seeds crushed
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes more if you want it extra spicy
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1 6-oz can of tomato paste
• 2 15-oz cans of tomato sauce
• 1 29-oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh basil leaves chopped
• 8 oz Spaghetti cooked per instructions (I used whole wheat)
• Parmesan Cheese grated
• Parsley chopped

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, turkey Italian sausage removed from casings, and the onion. Cook, stirring often to crumble the beef and sausage, for 4-5 minutes.
• Add the carrots, garlic, dried basil, crushed fennel seeds, dried oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste.
• Add the chicken stock, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauce to the turkey mixture as well as the sugar. Stir until well combined. Cover with a lid and place into the oven for 3-4 hours.
• Remove the Dutch oven from the oven. Skim the surface for any fat. Add the chopped basil then taste and re-season if needed.
• Cook the spaghetti noodles per instructions, drain. Serve the sauce on top of the spaghetti then top with Parmesan and fresh parsley if desired.

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