Homemade Spaghetti Sauce (using brat patties instead of ground beef)

Last fall we bought a whole hog from my brother even though we weren't big fans of pork outside of bacon.  It was a hog raised by my godson and we knew it would be nice to buy one of them from them as they have to be sold after fair.  I had most of the meat made into brat patties but my family soon tired of the patties so I had to get creative in their use.

My favorite way to use the meat is to make sloppy joe's with it however when I came across an old recipe I had handwritten in an old binder that called for ground beef, I knew it would be perfect for the brat patties.  And?  It was!  It was so good that not only did I make a delicious spaghetti sauce, but I ate it the next day as a soup/stew.

Spaghetti Sauce

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
4 lbs. ground beef and/or ground pork or brat patties
2 lg. onions, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c flour
3 cans (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste (I didn't have this on hand so I used about a cup of tomato juice and didn't use the water)
1 c water
1/2 c white vinegar
3 T sugar
1 1/2 T worcestershire suace

Saute' onions, peppers, mushrooms and garlic in the olive oil.  Stir in the flour.  Stir in tomatoes, paste, water, vinegar, sugar and worcestershire sauce.  Add the ground beef/pork and the bacon.  Bring to a quick boil.  Reduce to a simmer.  Simmer 2 hours uncovered.  Serve over pasta or enjoy as a soup/stew as I did the second day.

Browning the brat patties

Add the chopped and diced peppers, onions, mushrooms and garlic

Simmer 2 hours, uncovered

Serve over any pasta