Nik’s Secret Sauce

I’ll replace this with a better picture when…ah, hell, who am I kidding???

Sorry for the ghetto fab pic. I didn’t mean this to be a blog post. The other day I posted a pic of my lunch in reaction to a question I get a lot: “What do you use in place of spaghetti noodles?”

While it is true you can use spaghetti squash or alternate noodles, I prefer to cut out the middle man and just have my sauce straight up.

I love this sauce because it’s so good nobody ever seems to notice there are a ton of veggies and no beef!

Nik’s Secret Sauce (“Shhhh!”)

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Any other finely chopped veggies you like (I have random zucchini and red peppers in there too)
1 lb. lean ground turkey
2 Turkey Italian sausages, casings removed (I use spicy but you can use mild or sweet if you like that better)
2 oz. tomato paste
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I use the Hunt’s kind that comes in a can and is a dollar. I get the Garlic/Onion flavor.)
A pinch of each of the following: salt, pepper, Italian spice

Directions:

In a pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat, sautee onions and peppers (and random veggies) until soft, then add garlic and sautee until fragrant (about 3 minutes).

Add turkey and sausages and brown them (yes, you have to get in there and break up those sausages!) until fully cooked.

Stir in the tomato paste until fully incorporated and then add tomato sauce. Turn DOWN the heat (the sauce should be be thick). If you are feeding a crowd, add about 1/2 c. of water or so to thin it out. Otherwise, I made this recipe to be sort of like “spaghetti chili” since I don’t eat it with anything else.

Allow it to simmer on low heat another 5 minutes or so. It’s even better the next day!

My family loves this sauce (and they are not ground turkey eating folk, please believe!). My stepdad covers his sauce (atop a mountain of what he doesn’t notice is whole wheat pasta) in mountains of Parmesan cheese (cuz he’s 6’7 with perfect metabolism) and goes to TOWN!