I could not be happier that I made this smoked spaghetti sauce. I always keep spaghetti sauce on hand for those nights when I don’t have time to do anything fancy for dinner. Smoking the ingredients for the sauce really adds a totally different twist to a (somewhat) traditional Italian dish.
Fire up your smoker for cooking at 225 F. Do not add much wood if any. The charcoal itself should add enough smoke.
Season the ground beef and add it to the smoker along with the remaining ingredients.
Smoke for 45 minutes. You aren't cooking the ingredients completely, just adding smoke flavor.
Remove from the smoker and let cool slightly.
Chop the ingredients, except for the mushrooms, which are sliced.
Note: I found that rough-chopping everything and then pulsing the ingredients a few times in a food processor to work the best. Chopping the smoked vegetables was challenging and the food processor lets you control the texture more easily.
For the tomato sauce
Add the sauce to a large sauce pan or pot.
Add remaining ingredients plus the smoked meat and vegetables.
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.