Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

6 Servings
100% would make this recipe for Spaghetti with Meat Sauce again.

A really easy and delicious all-purpose sauce for pasta and lasagna. The lengthy cooking time allows the rich flavors to really develop and gives the sauce its great flavor. The results are a thick, hearty and tasty spaghetti sauce with not much effort. It does take a little more time, but it's worth it.

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Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil	1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 cup onion, finely chopped	1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/4 cup carrot, finely diced	1/4 cup dry red wine
2 large cloves garlic (or 3 small), minced	1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
Kosher salt	1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
Fresh ground black pepper	1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound lean ground beef (preferably ground round)	1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
1/2 pound lean ground pork (or, additional ground beef)	3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (plus additional for serving)
1 tablespoon dried oregano	1 pound Thin Spaghetti
1 teaspoon dried basil

Instructions for Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Put olive oil into a cold Dutch oven or large heavy saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until just barely hot. Add onion and carrot, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper to bring out the flavors, and saute until softened. Add garlic and saute 1 to 2 minutes more, but do not let garlic burn.

Add beef, and pork if used; cook and stir until no longer pink. Drain off excess fat. Add oregano, basil and red pepper flakes; mix well. a little more salt and pepper is good right here. Stir in the tomato paste. Stir in the wine until well-blended. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and mix well. Stir in sugar and cinnamon and bring slowly to a simmer.

Simmer uncovered over low heat from 1 to 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in Parmesan; simmer 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain and divide into 6 warm serving plates. Ladle sauce over the pasta and serve with additional Parmesan on the side.

NOTES:
Use only a non-stick, enamel coated Dutch oven or stainless steel pot; aluminum or cast iron are reactive and can yield a metallic taste.
You can add a heaping teaspoon of bacon fat to the olive oil and use all beef (no pork).
Use the best canned tomatoes possible. Best brands of crushed and whole tomatoes are San Marzano, Muir Glen, Cento, or any others if the cans say tomatoes are "San Marzano".
Any brand of tomato paste and tomato sauce is fine---I use Hunt's or Muir Glen.
This sauce freezes well in sealable 1-quart plastic containers or 1-quart freezer Ziploc bags..
Also, if you really love meat, add some home-made or ready-to-cook frozen meatballs during the last hour of simmering.

Main Ingredient: PastaCuisine: American

Ingredient Insight - look inside this recipe

Slow cook ground beef ground pork spaghetti beef pork olive oil onion carrot garlic red wine wine alcohol tomatoes parmesan Pasta American Side Dish Sauces Main Dish

for flavor and categorization

[I made edits to this recipe.]

sgrishka
on Dec 11 2007 2:10AM

[I made edits to this recipe.]

sgrishka
on Dec 7 2007 1:00AM

I sometimes replace the ground pork with an equal amount of good butcher quality Italian sausage (either sweet or hot) that's been removed from its casing and crumbled. Use this sauce with any cooked pasta (allow about 1 cup sauce for each 1 1/2 cups pasta), or layer sauce into lasagna. I often double the recipe and freeze the leftovers in 1-quart freezer Ziploc bags for use later. This recipe calls for wine. Don’t be shy about cooking with wine, even when the kids are eating it -- the alcohol cooks off very quickly, leaving just an amazing flavor behind. This recipe only uses 1/4 cup dry red wine, just enought to make the sauce a little more interesting, but you can use more or less to taste. However, the tannin in red wine will darken the sauce considerably. So, if your going to use more than 1/4 cup, I would suggest substituting either a dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio) or a dry vermouth (I like the herby, woodsy accents it adds to food). [I posted this recipe.]

sgrishka
on Jan 8 2007 5:59PM

Total Time: 3:10
Active time: 0:40