Easy Peasy Spaghetti Sauce

Today we are Yesterday we were watching one of the last of the NFL Green Bay Packer games of the regular season. I decided to make a little easy Italian dinner for us to eat during half time after the game. I thought I'd share. It's not an culinary tour de force, nor does it take any intellectual stimulation to accomplish. It's simple, quick and easy and yet it’s a decent step above opening a jar of sauce and pouring onto pasta.

INGREDIENTS:
  • one jar of organic pasta sauce
  • 1/2  organic red pepper - diced finely, especially if you have kids who are leery of vegetables
  • 1/2 organic green pepper - diced finely
  • 4 0z organic mushrooms - diced finely
  • 1/2 organic red onion diced
  • 1 lb of hormone- and antibiotic-free ground beef (grass fed)*
  • A dash of salt (and pepper if you like your meat a little seasoned)
*NOTE: You can substitute ground turkey instead of ground beef if you like. I recommend turkey with some dark meat added, because ground white meat can result in a very dry sauce.
ALSO NOTE: You can double this recipe easily by using the full vegetable and adding an additional jar of pasta sauce. You can add up to another pound of ground beef or just made the sauce less meaty by not doubling the amount. Either way, it will be great!

See? Simple.
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METHOD:
  • Heat up pan drizzled with olive oil until nice and hot. Then add the onions to the hot pan. Saute onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes or until translucent. 
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  • Add the peppers, sautee another few minutes. 
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  • Then add the mushrooms. Once all veggies are tender, remove from pan. 
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  • Turn up heat and allow pan to get hot again. Add ground beef and brown, breaking up into small pieces until thoroughly cooked. Season with salt.
  • SIDE NOTE: Normally I would not add salt to this dish because there is going to be enough salt in the pre-made sauce, however, we are going to thin down the sauce a little later, therefor, your meat will need just a dash of seasoning. Add whatever seasoning you like actually. I prefer my meat to be a little on the plain side and again, I'm not big on adding salt to my dishes. Remember too that it is more yummy to add salt to your pasta by way of Parmesan cheese rather than from Morton. 
  • Once meat is cooked, add veggies back to pan. 
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  • Open up your jar of sauce and then add to the pot as well. Mix well. Sauce mixture should be very thick. 
  • Fill emptied jar halfway with water and scrape out the rest of the sauce left in the jar. Add water to sauce. Now sauce should be a bit thinner. 
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  • Keep pan on low heat for an hour or more, allowing sauce to simmer and reduce down a bit.
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  • When done (an hour or two later), the sauce should have a nice consistency, the veggies should melt into your mouth, all flavors should have melded together.

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YIELD:
This fed 3 hungry adults and one hungry 2 year old. I have enough left over for myself and one more serving for Oliver. :) 


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Oliver said and I quote, “Mmmm. Tastes good! Do you like it Grampa? Do you like it Dotti? It’s real good, isn’t it?”

Comments

  1. Loved Oliver's quotes. If you ever need a babysitter, my daughter is in love with him just from this blog. She comes with certification, great references, and a fatal attraction to all things cute! Oliver would be in great hands. His pudgy little hands baking were the best.
    Let me know if you ever need a sitter and we can connect...
    Kari

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Andrea,

    if Oliver doesn't mind, add a bit of garlic the next time, it will taste even better :)

    Best,
    Jana

    BTW, your home looks so cosy and warm, very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks ladies! Kari, I do need sitters on occasion! And Jana... garlic sounds good! I'll try it next time. Oliver loves garlic.

    :) Andrea

    ReplyDelete

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