Spaghetti Spaghetti Spaghetti...
My mission today is to enhance a jar of spaghetti sauce.
I 've been wanting spaghetti with meat sauce, but didn't have time to make a scratch sauce on a work night. It's a very simple throw your favorite flavors in the pot kind of sauce. Most regular jar sauces are thin so I like to add tomato paste or stewed tomatoes, then I pour on the beef for a rich, meaty, sauce.
This recipe fed 6 empty stomachs easily.
Ingredients
- 45 oz jar spaghetti sauce ( I used Ragu old world style)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp basil
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 small green pepper
- 1/8 cup diced white onion
- 2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
Pour jar sauce into a pot. Cover and turn heat on very low to begin warming. Add olive oil to a skillet. Add diced green pepper, sauté for 1 minute, then add diced onion. Sauté vegetables till onions are translucent. Add vegetables to sauce. Add basil and brown sugar stir and continue to simmer on low. Check seasoning while stirring periodically.
Add ground beef to the same skillet. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder. Brown beef, then stir into sauce. Add tomato paste into sauce to thicken. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in parmesan cheese. Reduce heat. Continue simmering sauce for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot. Check seasoning. Salt to taste.
Pour sauce over hot Al dente spaghetti, add homemade garlic bread, and a tossed green salad and you have a delicious satisfying dinner that tastes like you spent all day cooking it, but you didn't. :)