The Story:
If you’re like us, spaghetti makes a regular appearance on your dinner table. There are many, many times that I just buy the jarred kind and doctor it up myself. I thought it would be fun to do something a little different this time around because this was our “Back to School” celebration dinner! I always get a little anxious when I make a new recipe from scratch for my family because I never know exactly how it will be received. There have been a few times that I ended up eating things myself because the kids aren’t into it but that was not the case with this sauce! They were actually HUGE fans of it and begged to have leftovers the next night, too.
This is actually a semi-homemade sauce, making it very easy to throw together. I use canned tomatoes a lot in my cooking because they are easy and take out the prep work of chopping all those tomatoes. The tomato paste is a key component in this sauce because it give it that rich, authentic flavor like it’s been cooking all day long. No one has to know it’s only been cooking for a few hours (that can be our little secret).
The Method:
First, chop the onion. On medium heat, saute it in a large pot with the oil until soft and translucent (about 10 mins). Then, add in the minced garlic and cook an additional 2-3 mins.
I like to puree the onions and garlic to give the sauce a smoother texture. You can skip this step if you don’t mind the onions. To puree, add the onions and garlic to a blender with 1 can of tomato sauce and blend until it’s smooth. You can also use an immersion blender here if you have one.
Add the pureed mixture back to pot with all of the remaining ingredients (except the ground beef). Stir the sauce and let it simmer on low for 4 hours. You can add water to the sauce if it gets too thick. The amount of water you add depends on how think you want your sauce.
In the last 30 minutes, prepare the ground beef in a skillet on med-high heat. It should be well done before adding to the sauce. Once it’s cooked, add it to the sauce and stir well to combine. Once the beef is added, the sauce is complete and ready to eat! We enjoy spaghetti several different ways in our house. My kids love it over traditional pasta. Sometimes I like to eat it over veggies like zucchini, broccoli, or cauliflower. I recently toasted a slice of sourdough and topped it with a big scoop of sauce and parmesan cheese. It was incredible!
Notes:
When adding the parmesan cheese, use freshly grated, not the stuff in a can. The fresh kind has a more robust flavor and melts into the cheese better than the alternative.
For the liquid, anything will work. It tends to get thick as it cooks so you might find that you’re adding more liquid towards the middle to end of the cooking time. You might end up adding more than 1/2 cup as well. I add about a cup when I make this recipe.
The key to achieving an authentic tasting sauce is to allow it to simmer for a several hours (4+ hours). If you won’t be home and don’t have time to cook this sauce on the stove top, you can always put it in the crock-pot on low for 4-6 hours.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 4+ hours |
| Servings |
people
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- 1 onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
- water if needed
- 1 pound ground beef
Ingredients
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- First, chop the onion. On medium heat, saute it in a large pot with the oil until soft and translucent (about 10 mins). Then, add in the minced garlic and cook an additional 2-3 mins.
- I like to puree the onions and garlic to give the sauce a smoother texture. You can skip this step if you don't mind the onions. To puree, add the onions and garlic to a blender with 1 can of tomato sauce and blend until it's smooth. You can also use an immersion blender here if you have one.
- Add the pureed mixture back to pot with all of the remaining ingredients (except the ground beef). Stir the sauce and let it simmer on low for 4 hours. You can add water to the sauce if it gets too thick. The amount of water you add depends on how think you want your sauce.
- In the last 30 minutes, prepare the ground beef in a skillet on med-high heat. It should be well done before adding to the sauce. Once it's cooked, add it to the sauce and stir well to combine. Once the beef is added, the sauce is complete and ready to eat!