Italian Sausage and Olive Spaghetti Sauce

It had been ages since I’d last made Spaghetti Sauce. After all, what good is spaghetti sauce when you don’t even eat spaghetti?

But then I got this crazy craving for a dish that I remembered having when I was a kid: Cauliflower Au Gratin, Italian Style. There really wasn’t much to it. It was basically steamed cauliflower drowned in spaghetti sauce, topped with mounds of melted cheese, which was made all golden and crispy thanks to a nice little stay under the oven’s broiler.

Sitting myself down to one of these bowls of goodness was like pure heaven. So as soon as its image popped in my mind, I was done for. I knew I’d have to not only recreate it, but that I’d also have to kick it up a notch.

I decided that my cauliflower would be submerged under a thick layer of spicy, meaty and hearty Italian Sausage and Olive Spaghetti Sauce, which would be loaded with great big chunks of Homemade Italian Sausage meat and a very generous amount of tangy green and black olives.

I’m telling you, this was bar none the best spaghetti sauce I’ve eaten my entire life, and Lord only knows I’ve had my share! I remember a time when I would make a new batch every single week. I’d have pasta practically every day back then, you know…

These days are long gone, but now that I got to experience Cauliflower au Gratin once again, I get the feeling that Spaghetti Sauce will be happening a lot more often in this household. Maybe not every week, but much more regularly.

Alright, now if we’re gonna make some of that cauliflower dish, first we gotta make the sauce, right? Right.

Let’s get started, why don’t we?

First, we need some Italian Sausage. Don’t worry, we’re not gonna stuff that sausage into hog casings. Why make it into links only to undo them just as fast?

We’re just gonna make the meat mixture, and that much is super easy to do: simply place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and knead well with clean hands until evenly combined.

Then, place a 5½ quart saute pan or 8 quart stock pot over medium-high heat and add a few tablespoons of fat to it. Once the fat has fully melted, delicately add the sausage meat in chunks roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. No need to make fancy balls, just lift pieces from the bowl with your fingers, squeeze them lightly in the palm of your hand and then drop them in the hot fat.

Cook, stirring delicately with a wooden spoon from time to time, until the chunks of meat become brown and crispy. Try not to break the chunks of meat as you stir. You want them to remain intact, as much as possible.

When the meat is nice and brown all around, lower the heat to medium, add the onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper stir and continue cooking until the vegetables are slightly softened, which should take no more than 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes, water, olives, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper, stir and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to low.

Hey, since we’ll be adding water to the sauce, why not use it to rinse those cans? Simply pour the water into the can, swirl it around to trap every last bit of tomato sauce and then pour that in your pan. Maybe use half the quantity of water for each can, since you have two of them…

Let the sauce simmer for about an hour, until it has thickened a bit and gone down by about one quarter.

Yeah, ehm, my saute pan was pretty full to start with. You might want to use a bigger one. Or better yet, go with the 8 quart stock pot!

Your sauce is now ready to serve.

No one says you HAVE to save it for that Cauliflower au Gratin, you know… besides, you’re gonna have way too much.

You can enjoy some over your favorite spiralized vegetable. Ever tried rutabaga noodles? They look just like spaghetti, I swear. And they taste even better than the real thing.

Plus, I found out that they go insanely well with this particular sauce, too.

Oh, and THAT is why you wanted to be delicate and gentle with that meat: just you look at all those mouth watering chunks of meat.

Now that’s what I call a hearty Spaghetti Sauce! Just you wait ’til you taste it.

But hey, don’t go and eat it all tonight. Make sure you save some for that Cauliflower au Gratin.

Trust me, you’ll be happy you did!

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5 from 1 vote

Italian Sausage and Olive Spaghetti Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Big chunks of spicy Italian Sausage and a generous amount of tangy green and black Olives make this Spaghetti Sauce quite the feast for your taste buds.

Servings: 8

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

The Italian Sausage Meat

• 1 lb pastured ground pork
• 1 lb grassfed ground beef
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp cold water
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp chili pepper flakes
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

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• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 celery rib, chopped
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
• 2 - 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp Himalayan salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

• Place all the ingredients for the Italian Sausage in a large mixing bowl and knead well with clean hands until evenly combined.
• Place a 5½ quart saute pan or 8 quart stock pot over medium-high heat and add a few tablespoons of fat to it. Once the fat has fully melted, delicately add the sausage meat in chunks roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. No need to make fancy balls, just lift pieces from the bowl with your fingers, squeeze them lightly in the palm of your hand and then drop them in the hot fat.
• Cook, stirring delicately with a wooden spoon from time to time, until the chunks of meat become brown and crispy. Try not to break the chunks of meat as you stir.
• When the meat is nice and brown all around, lower the heat to medium, add the onion, garlic, celery and bell pepper stir and continue cooking until the vegetables are slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, water, olives, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper, stir and bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to low and let the sauce simmer for about an hour, until it has thickened a bit and reduced by about one quarter.
• Serve over your favorite spiralized vegetable.

Nutrition

Calories: 309kcal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 22g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 78mg, Sodium: 964mg, Potassium: 529mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 2133IU, Vitamin C: 26mg, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 3mg

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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