Meaty, Hearty Pasta Sauce

I have never made my own tomato sauce until this past year.  I am not ashamed to admit that, solely because my Mom makes AWESOME sauce and always sends some over.  For this reason, I never really had to learn how to make my own sauce.  However, I let Bill pick out a dinner for me to make about 2 weeks ago, and he picked lasagna.  I didn't have any of my Mom's sauce on hand, and jarred just wouldn't do.  When I think lasagna, I think of a meaty, hearty sauce that fills you up.  I decided to make a sauce with both ground beef AND mushrooms to give it a hearty and meaty feel!  This made A LOT of sauce, so now I have my own stockpile frozen for a later use! 

Yields 4 Quarts

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of ground beef, the leaner the better!  You could also use ground chicken, ground turkey, or ground pork, whichever you prefer!
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 medium chopped onion

• 1 large can (28 oz) tomato sauce
• 2 small cans of tomato paste or 1 (12 oz) can if you can find it
• 1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, undrained
• 1 cup of cold water
• 1 can (14 oz) beef broth
• 1 package of sliced fresh white mushrooms
• 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 1/2 cup manzanilla olives
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons of dried basil
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning

Directions:

1. Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Add crumbled ground beef, pepper and onion, until meat is browned and pepper and onion are slightly tender.  Drain grease and transfer to a stock pot.
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Cover and simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally.