Spicy Spaghetti Sauce

About 11 years ago I went on on a very deliberate personal journey towards my idea of pasta sauce. After about 18 months of making it about every month, I felt like I converged on a balance I liked. Back then, the meat choice was bacon. Nowadays, I might do bacon or Italian sausage (regular non-vegetarian sausage) once in a blue moon, but the vast majority of the time I use these vegan sausages. I just like them. I don't really care how close or not close they might approximate their meat-based counterparts, I like them on their own qualities.

• Two 28 oz cans of [not petite] diced tomatoes
• 28 oz can of crushed or pureed tomatoes
• Two 6 oz cans of tomato paste
• 2-3 large onions, chopped
• 3 green peppers, chopped
• 10 cloves of garlic, crushed with a garlic press
• 2-3 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• Two packages of Beyond Hot Italian Sausage, sliced
• 1 Tbsp coarse ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoning (I like Penzey's)
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 to 3/4 cups of salty/starchy reserved pasta water from cooking spaghetti

In an 8 qt pot, get the onions golden brown in 3/8 cup of the olive and add about 2 tsp salt. This takes a long time. I don't know, maybe you can speed this up by sauteeing half of them in a big frying pan simultaneously, then combining.

Add the green pepper and another 1/2 to 1 tsp salt. You don't cook these nearly as long as the onions, because they'll just become mush. So get them slightly soft.

Add the garlic. Cook a few minutes. If there weren't any green pepper, the garlic would cook in 30 seconds or less, but the green peppers should be sweating and adding water to the process, lowering the temperature and making this slower. I'm not going to say "cook until fragrant", because what the hell kind of nonsense is that? Just don't be an idiot and burn the garlic. If you did, forget it: game over.

Add the tomatoes, stir, then the brown sugar, cayenne, black pepper, Italian seasoning. Reduce the temperature to medium-high, bring to a simmer, then reduce the temperature to medium or medium low.

Fry up the vegan sausage in one or two frying pans in some olive oil. The brand I mention sort of takes a while because a bunch of foamy water comes out of the sausage and slows it down. The Field Roast brand Italian sausage browns a lot quicker. The Field Roast sausage is a normally a great option and has been a go-to for years. I just like the newer Beyond Hot Italian sausage for these spicy recipes. When it's brown, set aside on a plate lined with paper towels (to soak up some grease).

Cook the spaghetti, salting heavily, and reserving some of the cook water to add to the sauce.

Add the sausage to the sauce. Add some of that reserved water. Season further, if necessary.