Betty Feezors Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

[norgeway]

I decided to have spaghetti today, so I thought I would post this sauce recipe, like most all things made on the Betty Feezor show during its long run on WBTV Charlotte, it's a real winner, my all time favorite, never watery, always thick and flavorful..For those who don't know, Betty Feezor was a Home Economist who had a home making show on WBTV in Charlotte NC for many years 1953-1977, until her illness with cancer and untimely death at age 53 in 1978, she was loved by many, most people here in the south stopped everything from 1 pm to 1.30, to see what new thing she would introduce, sewing, crafts ,cleaning tips, and always cooking, her son has posted one of her shows on you tube, sadly, only two survive, because WBTV taped over them,,Her show was second most popular womens program in the nation for several years, and she won many awards...Here is the recipe, I hope you will try it, its pretty fantastic.
Spaghetti and Meat Sauce
2 pounds hamburger
2 onions..chopped
2 green peppers...chopped.."I omit"
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 TBSP chili powder
2 large cans tomato paste..12 oz.
2 cups water
3/4 cup catsup
2 tsp salt
2 tsp vinegar
2 TBSP sugar
Brown hamburger, add other ingredients, simmer about an hour, stirring occasionally, this is the thickest best sauce I ever tried, and like most of Bettys recipes, EASY!

 

[petek]

Sounds good.. one question for clarification

Two large cans of tomato paste... 12 oz.. is that 2 x 6 oz OR 2 x 12 oz?

I'm guessing 2 x 6 oz... it would be like cement otherwise

 

[kenmoreguy64]

I love this recipe. I've been making something very similar since college in my very first kitchen. I've made it so many times now that I don't follow a printed recipe. That said, I have come to substitute two items that my Mother uses in her sauce, which I think make it even better:

-I substitute one can of Tomato soup for the catsup
-I substitute one 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes undrained (any variety) for each cup of water.

I am glad that temperatures outside are moderating, as its now almost time where I don't feel bad heating up the kitchen cooking!

Gordon

 

[norgeway]

Tomao paste!

2 12 oz cans is correct! Not like cement, but very thick,..Gordon, I will have to try your version!

 

[kevin313]

Hans - I am SO making this sauce! Can't wait to try!

 

[appnut]

Oh yeah, ME TOO. although I might substitute one of those pounds of hamburger with italian sausage. I can't wait to make pasta for my lunches for next week with this!!! I have to admit, my mom never used tomato paste, and I recently tried using it in my sauce and it makes such a differeence.

 

[petek]

Well guess what I made tonight

Spaghetti sauce.

It turned out good but I made a couple of changes. I only used one green pepper and one onion and I added about 1/4 tsp of dry Italian herbs and about a cup of sliced mushrooms (love shrooms) . It turned out good but still a little too sweet for me so next time I'd drop those 2tblsp sugar altogether and/or possibly the other green pepper as well. Too much green pepper sweetens sauces a little too much for my liking.

I cooked it in my pressure cooker, very fast.

I don't fry/brown hamburger for sauces like this anymore.. I boil it in a pot of water then all you have left is to pour the water/fat down the drain.. makes prep time even faster.

 

[hooverwheelaway]

***burrrrrp***

LivE from the dinner table...

 

[hooverwheelaway]

Cooked all day in our new Crock Pot!

 

[hooverwheelaway]

But... Cleanup is the best part!

 

[norgeway]

I leave out!

The green pepper altogether, but I like it sweet.

 

[oldskool]

Norgeway and Betty - Thanks

Made it this morning to use in lasagna.  As I'm expecting a group, I tripled the recipe - and it turned out great - so easy.  I added two cans of diced tomatoes w/chilis, and a little more sugar, to balance the hot and sweet.  Lasagna is in the oven now, I'll toss a salad, make a Peach Cobbler (which utilizes the pie crust recipe from another thread also) and call it done.

 

This is the greatest web site - so many thoughtful people! 

 

[appnut]

yay John. Glad we could be so helpful.

 

[mrb627]

Substitute

I agree with the soup and tomatoes. Plus, I would use a pound of fresh mushrooms in place of the green peppers.

Malcolm

How is the AW cookbook coming along?

 

[norgeway]

I love..

Mushrooms but Donald picks them out, so I usually dont use them.

 

[mrb627]

Yesterday

I made this in the crockpot yesterday with some slight deviation. It was awesome. I have frozen about half of it for later enjoyment.

Thinking about serving this Friday after Thanksgiving. It will feed a small army!

Malcolm

 

[launderess]

Not For Nothing

But with the exception of catsup (the old school Italian mothers of my childhood friends would kill me), and vinegar the recipe is pretty much the one I and others around here have been using for ages.

 

[appnut]

Well, this is undoubtedly one of the best pasta sauces I've ever put in my mouth, and probably the best I've ever made in my life.  Puts my moms' to sahme completely (sorry mom).  And for those who might be wanting to feed a crowd, this is enough for two pounds of pasta!!  Getting ready to divide and put up in individual portions for lunches over the next couple of work weeks. 

 

[westingman123]

I've never found a Betty Feezor recipe that failed. Never. There's a clip or two of her show on Youtube--she was quite a lady.

 

[circlew]

Sounds (and looks) so good

Plan to try this sometime soon.

 

[petek]

An update

On Wednesday I decided to make another batch of this sauce. So I go out and get the hamburger meat etc etc.. put it all together same as the first time into the pressure cooker. Well something went wrong with my pressure cooker I'm not sure yet and it didn't cook properly and got slightly burned on the bottom. Oh well, things happen.

So I poured it out into a regular saucepan to see if there was anyway of saving it but no.. once that burned taste gets into spagh sauce it's there for life.
I left the saucepan on the counter pushed far back again the backsplash and went out to visit mom up the street.

When I came home about 90 minutes later, there's the saucepan on the kitchen floor licked clean and only a few splatters on front of the fridge.

Ben really enjoyed it, all of it. I dare say PiP never got a taste.

 

[kevin313]

Hans...

We made this sauce yesterday for Sunday supper. Taking the inspiration from Fred's post, I used a crock pot to make the sauce. I browned the meat in an electric skillet and put the onions in with meat while it browned. I then transfered the meat and onions to the crock pot and put in the rest of the ingredients. Didn't have any green peppers on-hand, so I chopped up some black and green olives instead. It cooked for about five hours in the crock pot.

 

[kevin313]

We really loved this sauce. I was not sure how it would be without the use of some of the Italian herbs like basil, oregano, etc., but the chili powder gave it a warm flavor. I make a pound of thin speghetti and it was time to eat...

 

[kevin313]

This was such a nice thick sauce. It didn't get watered down by the wet pasta, and Ralph LOVED IT because he, without fail, always gets red sauce on his shirt when eating pasta (and he had a white shirt on!). This usually has me pulling his shirt off at the table and getting out my bar of Fels Naphta and scrubbing before it sets. BUT, because this sauce was so thick, it didn't spatter! Thank you, Betty Freezor, and Hans, for this great recipe!

 

[norgeway]

Im So Glad!

Everyone liked it, the thickness of it is what sold me on it, it is never watery as many sauces can be.

 

[petek]

I'm thinking that the failure of my 2nd attempt burning on the bottom of the pc was I made it just a bit too thick. My cans o paste the 2nd time were a wee bit larger and I didn't compensate by adding a little more water so it never got bubbling around inside. Probably wouldn't have been a problem with a slow cooker but the pc heats up hot and fast.

 

[bajaespuma]

A very simple sauce.

I think meat sauce is one of my favorite foods in the world, and I got a lot of them. I'm going to try Betty Feezor's recipe because it looks so interesting, and might be like the sauce I remember fondly from our school cafeteria.

 

My favorite all-time meat sauce is one that my Mother learned from one of her best friends, who was a Sicilian, Connie Fulin. Connie came from a family of great cooks and I remember her telling Mom that despite the legendary "gravies" that were tended by Nonna for hours on the stove, that she had concocted this sauce for her husband and sons for school nights when Nonna wasn't around to disapprove and it took only 30 minutes to make. This is how it was made, originally and you can certainly make substitutions, but I won't guarantee results if you do:

 

3 tablespoons of good fruity olive oil(back in the day, we used Progresso brand in the round tin can)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 lb. ground chuck

1 small can Hunts tomato paste

2 small cans Hunts tomato sauce

1 leaf of fresh basil

Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Heat the olive oil GENTLY, only till it shimmers and add the minced garlic. My mother used to do this by standing over the skillet and cross-cutting the garlic clove with a sharp paring knife and letting the tiny cubes of garlic fall into the oil. Garlic should sizzle ever so gently but not burn.

 

Crumble chuck into oil and raise heat. Brown meat over medium heat, breaking pieces apart as it cooks.

When meat is brown add tomato products and basil leaf. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes until very thick and oil separates slightly from the body of the sauce. Season to taste and serve. If done correctly, this sauce will taste slightly sweet.

 

Oh My G0d!

 

And then there's Vincent Price's Ragu alla Bolognese...

 

[norgeway]

Pressure Cooker..

While I love a pressure cooker, this sauce is WAY too thick to do under pressure, it will stick, I use a Aristo Craft dutch oven, or my Royal Queen dutch oven, both are multi ply stainless and very heavy.

 

[frigilux]

I made a vegan version of Betty Feezor's sauce using textured vegetable protein and it was really very good! My mom, who moved to the U.S. from Italy in her early 30's, is probably spinning in her grave over the inclusion of ketchup, but it didn't taste ketchup-y at all. It's definitely an American-style spaghetti sauce, but I'll be making it again. It was great with rigatoni.

Slight adaptations: There were two cups of vegetable broth in the fridge, so I used that instead of water, and added only 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I used red bell peppers, as I prefer their flavor to green bells.

 

[mrb627]

Betty Sauce

I am a convert. Never buy jar sauce again. Now I have to look at the container in the freezer every time I go in there. I need to buy rigatoni at the store and thaw the rest.

Malcolm