Everyday Spaghetti with Meat Sauce by Tom
This is my "go to" recipe whenever we want pasta with a red tomato sauce. Very simple to make, but very tasty to eat. I do find that making this an hour or so before I start to prepare the pasta helps to marry the flavors. You can use this with spaghetti or any pasta that you like. I will often use fusilli because that will gather more of the sauce on the pasta.
---Tom
Everyday Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
(from my creative mind)
Serves 4
1 jar Newman's Own Tomato & Basil pasta sauce
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes or fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes or fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/4 lb. ground meatloaf mix (pork, beef and veal)
1-2 tbsp. olive oil for browning the meat
1-2 tbsp. olive oil for browning the meat
~1 tsp. minced garlic
~1 tsp. dried basil
~1 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
sprinkle of red paper flakes - optional
1 lb. spaghetti
grated Parmesan cheese
In a medium saucepan, preheat the oil. When the oil is hot, brown the meatloaf mixture. Depending on how much fat is rendered from the meat, pour off any excess.
Add the jar of tomato & basil sauce and the can of diced tomatoes to the browned meat. Next add in the garlic, dried basil and brown sugar. Also this is where you would sprinkle some red pepper flakes into the sauce, if you want a little zing.
Stir the whole mixture up and bring to a light boil. Turn the heat down to very low and simmer for at least 20 minutes. I like to simmer for an hour or longer. This will thicken the sauce a little as well as marry all of the flavors together.
~1 tsp. dried basil
~1 tsp. brown sugar (optional)
sprinkle of red paper flakes - optional
1 lb. spaghetti
grated Parmesan cheese
In a medium saucepan, preheat the oil. When the oil is hot, brown the meatloaf mixture. Depending on how much fat is rendered from the meat, pour off any excess.
Add the jar of tomato & basil sauce and the can of diced tomatoes to the browned meat. Next add in the garlic, dried basil and brown sugar. Also this is where you would sprinkle some red pepper flakes into the sauce, if you want a little zing.
Stir the whole mixture up and bring to a light boil. Turn the heat down to very low and simmer for at least 20 minutes. I like to simmer for an hour or longer. This will thicken the sauce a little as well as marry all of the flavors together.
Prepare the pasta per the directions on the package. We prefer our pasta to be al dente, so I am continually checking the pasta as it approaches the al dente recommended cooking time.
With this recipe I prefer to drain the pasta in a colander, and plate the pasta from the colander. You can put the pasta back into the cooking pan and then add the red sauce to the pasta. However I prefer to plate the pasta and then add the red sauce. This method works best if there will be leftovers with the pasta and sauce stored separately.
Serve with grated Parmesan.
With this recipe I prefer to drain the pasta in a colander, and plate the pasta from the colander. You can put the pasta back into the cooking pan and then add the red sauce to the pasta. However I prefer to plate the pasta and then add the red sauce. This method works best if there will be leftovers with the pasta and sauce stored separately.
Serve with grated Parmesan.
Again, an easy recipe when you don't want to spend too much time thinking about what you want to make for dinner.
---Tom
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