Variety is the Spice of Life!: Spaghetti With Meat Sauce

At least once a week we have spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. I won’t call my meat sauce Bolognese, because in Italy, the pairing of the right kind of pasta with the right sauce is considered almost sacred. Bolognese sauce is served over Tagliatelle. Bolognese sauce always contains carrots and celery. It is also cooked very, very slowly over many hours.

My version of meat sauce is simple, quick to make, and delicious.

My recipe for meat sauce is for 1 pound of spaghetti.

1 pound of spaghetti serves 4 adults.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of olive oil

½ onion, chopped

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

¾ lbs of ground meat

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon of dried basil, or 2-3 sprigs of fresh basil

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

1 pound spaghetti

Steps:

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic. Add ground beef. Sauté, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps of meat. Cook until meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I've tried many brands of canned crushed tomatoes
grown in California.

I always keep a variety of olive oils on hand.

2. Add the can of tomatoes and stir. Fill the tomato can 3/4 with water, and add to the saucepan. Add a bay leaf and basil. Stir mixing well.

3. Let the sauce come to a boil, lower temperature, and let simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring often.

Cooking Pasta:

There are countless varieties of pasta brands and shapes. When I make meat sauce I almost always use spaghetti, and our favorite brand is Pasta

De Cecco.

Fill a large pot with about 4 ½ quarts of water. Bring to a rolling boil. Once water is boiling add 2 tablespoons of salt. Stir to keep the pasta from sticking. Stir within the first 2 minutes of cooking pasta. The pasta is more likely to stick together, in the beginning, before the starches are released into the water. We like our pasta “al dente” so after 10 minutes I test a strand to see if it’s almost done. I cook the spaghetti for a total of 11 minutes. Drain spaghetti well and add it to the saucepan with the tomato sauce. Cook the pasta in the sauce, incorporating it all very well, for at least 1 -2 minutes. This allows the flavor from the sauce to be absorbed into your pasta.

Serve the spaghetti with meat sauce. Add parmesan cheese to taste. There is always a variety of hot peppers at my table. Adding chilies to our pasta is a must! I remember as a child, attending wedding receptions, my dad always came prepared for the meal. He carried a few of his homegrown peperoncini (hot peppers) in his suit pocket, to share.