Spaghetti Meat Sauce

This recipe comes from the kitchen of Maxine Bardessono (Mom).  Mom has a dutch oven that she simmers the sauce in all day.  The house smells amazing.  When we go to visit her, pasta is the go to meal and we love it.  Over the years I have altered the sauce somewhat, but the below is exactly as her recipe card reads.  Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound of hamburger meat browned and drained

l large can tomato paste(12 oz) plus two cans water

2 large cans tomato sauce plus two cans water

2 cans red wine (I substitute beef broth)

1 large onion diced or 2 Tablespoons dried

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 dried bay leaf

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 package of dried mushrooms  (there is a story behind the mushrooms, see below)

or 8 oz fresh mushrooms chopped

Brown meat, drain.  Saute fresh onions and mushrooms until soft.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer occasionally stir.

The sauce can be divided and frozen for later use.  

Dried Mushrooms:

Sometime in November about 1 week after the first rain in the Napa Valley my Dad would go mushroom hunting.  I would often go with him, I even took Jennifer with us when she was about 5 years old.  We went across the highway to the same area each year, I think that's where his Mom (Lucy) went.  We would get a stick and look for small mounds under the fallen leaves.  When a mound was discovered we would gently uncover the mound hoping to find a mushroom sprouting up.  We only picked two types that we found, an Italian which had a brown top and a French one that had more of a red tone.   We often found others but Dad always said he wasn't sure so to be on the safe side we didn't pick them.  

We brought them home and with a cloth brushed off the dirt, sliced them and placed them on a screen to dry.  The screens often found their way in front of our fireplace.  Once dry Mom stored them in a large green can.  When Mom needed some mushrooms she would grab a handful place them in warm water to re-hydrate.  Years later I saw some dried mushrooms in a local specialty shop at an outrageous price.  We had grommet food growing up and didn't even know it!