Here's an inexpensive, hearty pasta sauce for cold winter nights.

• 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 med. carrot, grated
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olice oil
• 6 Tbsp. apple cider
  
  
• 1-3 links bratwurst or other link sausage, sliced
• 1 tsp. dried or 2 tsp fresh thyme.
• 1 tsp. dried or 2 tsp fresh basil.
• 1 tsp. dried or 2 tsp fresh oregano.
• 1 dash of all-spice
  
  
• 1 large (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes in puree
• 1 med (14.5 oz.) can diced, stewed tomatoes in puree
  
  
• 1/4 cup fresh parsely, chopped
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  
  
• 3-4 cups fresh or frozen green beans
  
  
• 1 pkg tubular pasta- ziti or rigatoni
  
  
• grated romano cheese

You'll need 3 pots- one for the sauce, one for the green beans, and one for the pasta. Begin by putting on water to boil in the pasta pot. Saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil for about 5 min, until they lose their crunch.

Add sausage, spices and herbs. Add apple cider, a little at a time, to prevent sticking. Saute until sausage is browned. Add canned tomatoes and simmer 10 min.

Now start the pasta cooking and steam the green beans. When the beans are bright green but still a bit crunchy, remove them from the heat and, as soon as it's done, drain the pasta. While it's draining, add the parsely to the tomato-sausage pot. Cook just until parsely turns bright green (about 1 min). Add pepper to taste.

Ladle sauce over pasta and top with green beans. Dust with grated Romano cheese and serve immediately.

-Alan and Jessica Wagener