Easy Go-To Spaghetti

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All-time Favorite

Recently I was asked by a friend, ‘what is your favorite go-to recipe?’ The question set me back a moment or two, but really it shouldn’t have. My Easy Go-To Spaghetti definitely fits the bill! It’s a quick, inexpensive version of American-style Spaghetti Bolognese, meaning – Spaghetti with Meat Sauce.

Meat sauce over spaghetti pasta has been a bi-weekly tradition throughout my life – and an absolute favorite! The recipe I grew up with, however, although tasty, needed some serious quality and nutritional adjustments.

Quick, Easy, Delicious, and Nutritious!

Even still, some may challenge my use of canned marinara as hardly being an improvement. Someday I’ll share my out of this world, all from scratch, Sunday Gravy recipe, but the point of this dish is quick, easy, and delicious with essential nutrition.

Easy Go-To Spaghetti is super versatile. You want it vegan? Remove the meat and add more veggies. The family fussy about veggies? Shred the vegetables extra small. You have beef on hand but no pork? Skip the pork entirely or replace it with what you have. Can’t do the red meat thing? Use ground turkey – and so on.

I’ve used other brands than Trader Joe’s Marinara, but for quality and price, I like it best. If you have an Aldi’s nearby, their SimplyNature Organic Marinara is a reasonable and inexpensive alternative.

A good quality pasta is a must for the best results. Trader Joe’s, Barilla, or DeCecco brands are good. Someone (no worries – not Stache!) once suggested that I was ‘high maintenance’ because of my higher priced pasta choices. I can’t help myself. I’d rather eat meat sauce on crackers or toast, than pasty .59 cent pasta.

Part of the ‘quick&easy’ I’ve been describing is that we serve Easy Go-To Spaghetti by itself and in a bowl. No need to mess with side dishes and all of that. Altogether, the sauce has plenty of nutrition for a growing family – it’s filling and delicious. And have I mentioned that the family loves it too?

Dinner can be complete in just over a half-hour, and everybody will know someone cared.

Easy 'Go-To' Spaghetti

A quick and easy version of American-style Meat Sauce with Spaghetti. Casual, yummy, comfort food!

Course Main Dish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 medium Yellow or Sweet Onions chopped small
1 medium Green Pepper seeded and chopped small
1 medium Fresh Carrot (optional) rinsed and grated
1-2 pinches Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
1 pound Ground Pork 80/20
1 pound Ground Beef 90/10 or better
2 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt More or less to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
3-4 cloves Fresh Garlic crushed, peeled, and chopped fine
1 pound Fresh Mushrooms cleaned and sliced
2 28 ounce Marinara Sauce Choose your favorite, but you know mine!! Trader Joe's Tuscano Marinara Sauce or any good quality Marinara Sauce.
2 pounds Spaghetti pasta I usually use Trader Joe's or Barilla pasta

Condiments

Shredded Parmesan Cheese to taste
Fresh Cracked Pepper to taste

Instructions

Gather your ingredients, a pasta pot and a thick bottomed saucepot large enough to hold your desired quantity of sauce.
Fill pasta pot with warm water and set on stove on low heat. Add olive oil to the saucepot.
Chop onions and garlic. Grate carrot if using.
Add onions to saucepot with olive oil over medium heat. Add your desired amount of red pepper flakes. [Most of our family enjoy things spicy, so I always go for 2 generous pinches. Use less or none at all, if you must.]
Chop green pepper and add along with the grated carrot if using. Saute together with onions until onions are translucent and veggies begin to lightly brown. [We had to go without green peppers this week because I didn't notice the typo I sent to Stache on my grocery list text. I got green onions instead.]
Add both types of meat. Break up into small bite-sized pieces. Add salt and black pepper.
While meat is browning, clean and thinly slice mushrooms.
Add prepared mushrooms and garlic to the nearly cooked meat. Cook until meat is done and mushrooms have softened.
Open Marinara cans and bring pasta water up to a boil.
Add Marinara to meat and veggies. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
Add a Tablespoon of salt to the boiling pasta water and add pasta. Boil according to package instructions for al dente. [I'm fairly casual about many things, but mushy pasta isn't one of them!]
At desired doneness, strain pasta immediately through a colander.
Portion out bowls of pasta topped with meat sauce, there at the stove. Add shredded parmesan cheese and a bit of fresh ground black pepper, as desired. Enjoy!