Homestyle Pasta Sauce
My parents got divorced when I was 12, and so began the tradition of "Spaghetti Night", which was every Monday when my father did not get home until 6:00 p.m. I was put in charge of making dinner - always spaghetti. I started off with frying up meat and onions, and adding a bottle of commercial spaghetti sauce. Over the years, it's evolved, quite a lot, to include a more generous quantity of vegetables, and to allow for the fact that I started to can my own tomatoes. It still appears on the table almost once a week though... This is not an thick, rich sauce. It's more chunky and a little soupy from the home-canned tomatoes. I tend to serve it with a stubby style of pasta, so I can eat it with a spoon.
Ingredients
4 serv.- medium onion↗1
- cloves garlic↗2
- vegetable oil↗1 tablespoon
optional
- ground beef↗1 lb
- large carrot↗1
- large zucchini1
- pepper (I use cubanelle or banana peppers)↗1
optional
- quartered button mushrooms2 cups
optional
- salt↗1⁄2 teaspoon
- basil↗1 teaspoon
- oregano↗1 teaspoon
- crushed tomatoes↗4 cups
- tomato paste↗2 tablespoons
- Tabasco sauce↗1 tablespoon
optional
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Set a large pot of salted water on to boil, and prepare the desired amount of pasta.
- 2
Meanwhile, peel and chop the onion and garlic.
- 3
Peel and grate the carrot; grate the zucchini.
- 4
Prepare the mushrooms and pepper if using.
- 5
Put the meat in a very large skillet, with the oil if the meat is very lean, and fry, breaking it up into small bits, until browned.
- 6
When it is half done, add the onion, and continue cooking until there is not any red left in the meat and the onion is translucent.
- 7
Stir the garlic into the meat for a minute, then add the grated carrot and zucchini, and the pepper and mushrooms if using. Mix well.
- 8
Continue cooking, stirring frequently for a few minutes until the vegetables are soft. Season with the salt, basil and oregano.
- 9
Mix in the crushed tomatoes and the tomato paste.
- 10
Reduce the heat and simmer until well amalgamated.
- 11
Mix in the Tabasco sauce, and serve over hot pasta.
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