I Can't Believe Its' Not Hamburger Spaghetti Sauce

This is an old, tried-and-true, made lots of times, sometimes with hamburger, sometimes with Italian sausage. I made it with a pound of plant based hamburger and a large raw chicken sausage. I think it didn't hold up with the faux burger--much as I wish it would! I thought it lacked flavor.. And the beef didn't taste like beef--but Mark seemed to like it It especially didn't have the fennel and a bit of red pepper flake that is in the usual hot Italian sausage. If I try this again I might try the soy-based faux hamburger. The only reason to do so is to find a truly vegetarian sauce that could be vegan with the parm on the top. Yes, it's the PC| way to help get Carbon Dioxide out of the air. This recipe, made with turkey or chicken sausage, is already using the meat with the lighter footprint.

Pasta Sauce with Italian Sausage

l pound italian sausage*
1/2 pound lean ground beef
mushrooms (optional) and italian parsley (optional|)
1 tbsp olive oil
l copped onion
2 cloves garlic
l 16 ounce can chopped tomatoes (I used the 14.5 oz size)
1 16 ounce can tomato paste
1 tsp salt
healthy sprinkling of basil and oregano ( start with a tsp each they adjust to taste)
1 bay leaf
ground black pepper to taste
chopped kalamata olives

*I've used 4 raw turkey italian from Piazza's, 3 mild and 1 hot for a mildly spicy sauce. I also have used precooked organic chicken sausage from CostCo, and Whole Foods raw ground turkey sausage mixed to order with a nice flavor--the fennel shines through.

Directions

Take the casing from the sausage links and cut into 1/2 inch slices (if they are precooked). Brown for about 10 minutes.  Brown ground meat (or faux meat), onion, mushrooms, parsley and garlic in olive oil. Drain the fat if there is a lot. Pour in tomatoes and sauce, mix in salt, black pepper, basil, oregano and bay leaf. Add cooked sliced sausage if you are using it. Simmer uncovered for an hour.