Here is my favorite recipe for a quick and easy pasta and meat sauce. I always get lots of compliments on my pasta sauce, so I am sharing it with you. Now that the weather is turning colder, it is always nice to be able to have a hot meal on the table quickly. I also seem to have at least 4 or 5 occasions over the fall and winter when I have unexpected dinner guests. This is a great way to have a nice dinner on the table for my guests that seems to please a crowd. Plain pasta can be served for toddlers or picky eaters. Or, you can serve a large bowl family style for a casual meal. Pair with a quick salad and some good bread and you are set!
Here is my quick and easy pasta & meat sauce. There are 3 amazing things about this sauce:
1. It tastes like you cooked it for hours and you only need 30 minutes!
2. You can add lots of things to this sauce or take some things out to suit your and your family’s tastes. Remove the onions and mushrooms, if your family doesn’t like veggies in their sauce. Or, for more options, add italian sausage, chopped peppers, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, black olives, capers, crushed red pepper flakes.
3. It is a super thing to have in your freezer, so just double your recipe and pop your leftovers in a container and you can have a meal another time.
The ingredients are:
1 pound ground beef (or any other meat you like: turkey, chicken, sausage. I often use bison to make it leaner but still meaty in flavor)
1 onion, diced
1 container/can strained or pureed tomatoes (26 oz) (I like Pomi brand)
1 container chopped tomatoes
1 package sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup red wine
3 cubes garlic (I like the Dorot herb cubes, but you could just chop 3 cloves)
4 cubes basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
1 pound pasta, your choice of shape (I like Bionaturae brand organic pastas)
In a medium pot, add the olive oil and brown the ground beef. If you chose a lean cut, you can just add the onions, mushrooms and meat at the same time. If you chose a fattier cut, brown the ground beef and drain it before adding it back into the pot with the vegetables. No need to cook the meat all the way through at this point.
Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to instructions.
Add the red wine to meat and veg mixture and simmer for 1 minute. Then add the garlic, basil, tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes on medium low. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
You can serve the pasta and sauce separately OR reduce the pasta cooking time by 2 minutes and while still slightly undercooked, strain and add the pasta to the sauce pot and cook for the last two minutes in the sauce and serve family style in a large bowl. Enjoy!
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