Smokey Meat Sauce

There is no shortage of pasta sauce types and flavors in the grocery store, but sometimes I don't want to pay $4-5 for a jar that I will use only a quarter of. What if the flavor ends up being terrible? Last night, I needed to use up some hot Italian sausage so I thought I'd whip up a pasta sauce of my own. It turned out pretty well actually--a smokey flavor because of one unusual star...bacon.

Applewood bacon is all the rage at restaurants these days. A selling point for burgers, cobb salad and BLTs. We got a pound of it last week from Trader Joe's and it turned out that applewood smoked bacon, while it has a lot of flavor, is also a lot more fat than actual porky bits. As a result finding a use for it was tough, so adding it to the pasta sauce seemed like a good decision. It really does bring a twist.

Smokey Meat Sauce
Ingredients
3 slices bacon, chopped
2 hot Italian sausages, casings removed, chopped
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes wth garlic and basil
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 T Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, chopped
scant T olive oil

Directions
1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat until fragrant. Add bacon and sausage and saute until browned breaking up sausage with spatula.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more
3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 20-30 minutes or until slightly thickened.
4. Meanwhile prepare pasta of your choice