A Venison Spaghetti I Liked

My freezer is full of venison. We have deer and elk in abundance in our freezer here at home, as well as in the one up at the poolhouse. I should be using it. It is grass fed, not grain fed. It is lean. It is healthy.

One simple problem. I really don't care for the taste of it.

With all that I am learning, I know that the venison would be a healthy choice for us, so I am determined to learn some YUMMY recipes using it.

Here is one that we made earlier this week. It is for spaghetti because Grantmeister had asked for spaghetti. *NOTE: He asked for spaghetti not because he wanted to eat spaghetti, but because he wanted to have the garlic bread served with the spaghetti! Learned that later. ;)

In this recipe, I used several things that were from cans of organic products because tomatoes aren't good this time of year. In season, I would use our homegrown tomatoes.

2 packages deer breakfast sausage
2 packages ground elk
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning (use fresh basil and oregano if you have it; I was out!)
3-4 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 can black olives, chopped
1 jar Classico (Tomato/Basil) pasta sauce
1/2 box of organic beef stock
1 can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano (in season, use fresh!)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 box of Whole Wheat spaghetti noodles

Heat oil in large Dutch oven. Add onions and garlic; saute. Add venison and beef stock. The venison is so lean, I add beef stock to moisten it up a bit. It also helps lessen that "gamey" taste that I don't care for. Cover and let cook down til meat is brown and tender. Remove lid for last 15 minutes of browning time.

Add pasta sauce, tomatoes with peppers, olives, seasonings, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn to low, and let simmer for 20-30 minutes til flavors all combine.

Cook whole wheat pasta per package directions.

Top with parmesan cheese.

*NOTE: This spaghetti is thick and not a lot of red sauce because Wade doesn't prefer red sauce. I made it very chunky for him, but everyone else loved it except Lydia who LOVES red sauce. I could have just added more red sauce to her portion.

Should have taken a picture, but I didn't. This made a whole lot of meat. I used half for meat for the spaghetti and froze half of it for later use.