I’ve been making this for years, and we had a version of it at home when I was growing up. This one is based on methods learned from Stephen Pedalino, who I worked with back in the 1980s. It’s a real comfort food, and an easy recipe, and my kids and their friends always loved it. You can also use this sauce for lasagna, or with pasta other than spaghetti. For meat, I use ground beef or, if I can get it, ground venison (or a blend of the two). For the sauce, I make a version of marinara; I try to use fresh tomatoes and homemade tomato sauce or paste, but canned products work just fine, too. You could also use a jarred sauce, omitting the need to add some of the herbs and spices (this makes it even easier).
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or venison
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes or about a dozen peeled, seeded, and chopped roma tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dried basil or 1/2 cup chopped fresh
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 scant teaspoon sugar
salt and pepper
Recipe
Heat olive oil in sauté pan, add ground meat and cook until beginning to brown; add onion, season with salt and pepper; if you are using dry spices, add these now (fresh spices should be added after the sauce has been added). Saute until onion is translucent; avoid browning the onions. Add garlic, cook for another minute, and then add tomatoes and tomato paste, and bring to a simmer. If you’re using fresh herbs, now is a good time to add them, as well as the sugar. Let simmer a few minutes, and then adjust seasoning, and let simmer on very low for another 15-20 minutes. If you plan to use it immediately, put on pasta water when you begin making the sauce. Serve over al dente pasta with any good grated hard Italian cheese. (NB: This sauce freezes well in ziploc bags; make sure to label and date the bags–it’s easy to forget what’s in them if they’re unmarked!)
Variations
The sauce part is a basic marinara if you omit the meat. You could also substitute 8 oz. sliced mushrooms. I also sometimes add some beef bouillon (one cube) and decrease salt. For a bit of a kick, I sometimes add some crushed red pepper (1/4 teaspoon or so) when adding spices. Add more oregano and crushed red pepper for pizza sauce. All meat products could be omitted for a vegan sauce.
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