How to Make Your Own Gluten-Free Spaghetti Sauce

When my daughter, Annie, was first diagnosed with celiac disease, I had to learn how to make everything from scratch. My mother had always used pre-made, store-bought spaghetti sauce. And in those early days, I had no idea that Ragu offered gluten-free sauces. I went through a time where I was afraid to feed Annie anything at all, if I didn't make it myself.

Of course I don't mind opening a jar of Ragu these days, but quite honestly, I now prefer my own, home-made spaghetti sauce to anything pre-packaged.

So here's the recipe I use:

Ingredients

2 lbs. hamburger
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
fresh parsley
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup diced peppers
4 med. white mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Brown hamburger in a frying pan and drain the excess fat. Add onions and mushrooms. Fry for an additional minute. Add tomato sauce, parsley, chili powder, and onion powder. Mince or crush garlic cloves and add this as well. (For some people, 4 cloves might be too strong, but my family likes a lot of garlic.) Simmer. At the last minute, add peppers and simmer for 30 seconds until peppers are al dente.

To make spaghetti, of course, you just cook noodles according to package directions and pour this sauce over your cooked noodles. Our favorite brand of GF spaghetti noodles is Tinkyada, because this brand cooks up al dente.