Hearty Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

(updated from archives)

On November 28th 2007, I was trying to decide what to make for dinner. It wasn't just any Wednesday night, it was the night before my biiig interview. I was feeling pretty darn crappy with a cough and cold and on top of that, oh god, I was sooo soooo nervous. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything the next day so I had to fill up on dinner because stomach gurgles = awwwkward. Dinner didn't need to be anything fancy. The last thing I needed was to futz around with a new recipe when my already congested head is frantically trying to come up with a decent answer to the dreaded "so... tell me about yourself" question. I needed something hearty and comforting - pasta fit the bill. I turned to my trusty spaghetti meat sauce, which is one of the first things I learned how to cook so I knew I wouldn't have any trouble making it.

Growing up, spaghetti was nothing to get excited about. Boil some spaghetti noodles, heat up some jarred sauce, and that was that. I always wondered why the meat sauces never had any meat until I saw the words "flavored with." A little gross eh? So yeah, I wasn't the biggest fan. My perception of spaghetti totally changed after I met Steven. Back when we started dating, one of the first meals we had together was spaghetti and his mom's homemade meat sauce. This was back in the day when I knew absolutely nothing about cooking and pretty much only knew how to make ramen (add boiling water, wait 3 minutes, mmk I can do that) and heat up Lean Cuisines. The sauce actually had pieces of real meat, onions, chunks of tomatoes, and oh my god are those herbs? Boy was I impressed. It was nothing like the spaghetti sauce I grew up eating. This was also how Steven introduced me to cheese. I was not always a cheese lover. In fact I thought the concept of cheese (stinky old milk?) was pretty weird and I tried my best to avoid it. It wasn't easy but Steven convinced me to add a tiny bit of freshly grated Parmesan to my pasta. He eventually won me over. Now I love piling on the parm and seeing it get all melty and gooey on pasta. Mmm mm!

I think Steven's mom's spaghetti sauce is a major factor that led me to start cooking. After I learned the basics like how to brown meat and how to dice and saute and onion, meat sauce was one of the first things I taught myself how to cook. I added some browned ground beef and sauteed onions to a jar of storebrought sauce. I bought my first jar of herbs, Spice Island Italian Herb Blend, and I would shake some out onto the palm of my hand and crush the herbs with my fingers before adding it to the bubbly sauce (probably something I learned from skimming Food Network when I was younger). It was no longer storebought sauce that I just plop into a saucepan, it became something that I cooked myself. Over the years, the ingredient list has expanded to include olive oil, diced tomatoes, red wine, and even fresh basil that I grew myself last summer. Sure it's not completely from scratch and yes I would love to one day skip the jarred sauce all together make it totally 100% from scratch with 2 big cans of San Marzanos but for a frugal college student, I could make this entire recipe for under $4 whereas one can of San Marzanos would run me $3 or $4. Yikes! So this, is my spaghetti sauce - cheap, easy, and delicious.

So that Wednesday night, I helped myself to a heaping plate of spaghetti and boy did it hit the spot. I would like to think that this is the meal that got me into medical school.

The recipe is really flexible so there are plenty of changes you can make:
- If you start off with canned/jarred spaghetti sauce make sure to pick the plainest version with no extra ingredients like mushrooms or "meat flavoring". Any additional ingredients you can add yourself and it will be fresher. Or you can skip the storebought spaghetti sauce entirely and use either plain tomato sauce as a base or 2 cans of whole tomatoes, drained and crush them yourself. You can use 2 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes (like organic ones from Muir Glen or imported San Marzanos) and drain and crush them (with your hands or blitz in a food processor).
- If you are using jarred spaghetti sauce, be sure to taste the sauce before adding additional salt. Most spaghetti sauces have so much salt that it's enough for the whole batch.
- Instead of all ground beef you can substitute Italian sausage oruse a combination of the two.
- This recipe makes enough sauce for quite a few servings of spaghetti or enough sauce for a 9 x 13 lasagna with a little leftover.
- If you’re making lasagna and using no-boil noodles, keep the sauce on the thin side the noodles will absorb some of the liquid from the sauce. Otherwise for spaghetti, simmer uncovered for the last hour or so to thicken the sauce.

Hearty Meat Sauce
1 can or jar of storebought (original/plain, no weird flavors) spaghetti sauce, roughly 26 oz. (can be replaced with crushed/pureed whole tomatoes)
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, do not drain (can be replaced with crushed whole tomatoes)
1 lb lean ground beef (see notes on meat substitutions)
1 medium to large onion, diced
4 – 6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 C red wine
2 tsp Italian herb mix
Freshly ground black pepper
A few tbsp of olive oil
1/2 C fresh basil, chopped or chiffonade

Heat some olive oil in a large pot and brown the ground beef. Drain and set aside.

Pour out the fat that’s accumulated in the pot. Add a tbsp of olive oil and heat over medium high until shimmering. Add the onions and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced.

Now at this point I pretty much just add everything else in (except the basil!) and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the jar of cheapo sauce, the canned tomatoes and juices, browned and drained ground beef, herbs (crushed between your fingers), and plenty of freshly ground pepper.

Simmer partly covered over low heat for about 3 hours. After about an hour or so taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt. If it tastes too acidic, add a little bit of sugar. If it looks too watery, simmer with the lid off.

After the sauce is finished cooking, stir in the fresh basil off heat. Serve with spaghetti, or freeze part of it, or make lasagna.

Recipe:
Hearty Meat Lasagna