This sauce for spaghetti is a real Italian mixture—and wonderful. This
is how I learned to make it in Italy:
Place in a cup or bowl a half teacup full of _dried_ mushrooms. Pour
boiling water over them and just let them stand until thoroughly
softened, say—about a half hour.
In the meantime cover the bottom of your frying pan or skillet with
butter or olive oil (I prefer the butter). Chop one big onion and cook
slowly, stirring frequently. In another pan or kettle place two cans of
tomatoes. Stew them for half an hour. Then make three small cakes of
Hamburg steak or chopped beef and put them in to cook, with the onions.
Cook thoroughly. Add at the same time the mushrooms which have been
softened and chopped into fine particles.
When the meat is cooked through mash the cakes up with a fork—mixing
well with onions and mushrooms.
Now add the stewed tomatoes and, in doing this, press them through a
sieve or colander. Stir well.
Place on back of stove and let steep for one hour after adding two
teaspoons of Eagle Chili Powder (if available) or two teaspoons of Lea
& Perrins sauce with five dissolved cubes of beef or chicken bouillon.
To cook the spaghetti, place it, unbroken, in well salted boiling
water. Put it in end first. Boil exactly twenty-three minutes. Drain.
Hold under cold water tap for a second or two and drain again. Keep
warm on stove until served. This cold water treatment is important. It
removes all gumminess and leaves the spaghetti in perfect condition.
Use the imported spaghetti if available.