Are you looking for an easily customizable recipe where you don’t have to measure anything and it turns out great practically every time? Perfect! This straightforward and classic favorite is for you!
I believe this was the first dish I made on my own when I was little (kind of not hard to believe considering the minimal amount of mandatory ingredients), but over the years I’ve made a few improvements and I’ll share the elevated version in this recipe!
[Also, for anyone whose name starts with S, never mention that Spaghetti is one of your favorite things to cook on the first day of class because you never know when the teacher will force everyone to do the name alliteration thing to help remember people’s names and then assign the matching adjective/ noun based on what you said your hobbies are… This may or may not have been years ago and the fact that I may or may not still remember prompted me to include this PSA.]
Anyways, enjoy the recipe!
Ingredients: (this ratio is for a giant 67 oz. jar of tomato sauce as a base and yielded about 8-10 dinner portions, so definitely adjust accordingly.) (also, I usually never measure anything / just use whatever leftover veggies I have, so feel free to customize!)
Pasta* (see notes for my favorites)
1 67 oz. jar of Tomato sauce (I usually use the Traditional Prego brand)
1 can of stewed tomatoes (no salt added, cut the tomatoes into small pieces using kitchen scissors)
1 lb. ground beef
5 cloves of garlic
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 box of mushrooms
2 zucchinis
Garlic powder, Onion powder, Nutritional Yeast, White Pepper, and Dried Basil
**1 tsp baking soda
(Garnish)
Cashew parmesan = 1/4 cup cashews, dash of salt, 1 tbsp nutritional yeast blended into a powder
Green onion
Garlic bread
Side salad of your choice
Directions:
(Prep) Dice the onion and bell pepper. Mince the garlic. Slice the mushrooms and cut zucchini into small pieces.
(Pasta) Boil water, ADD SALT, and cook pasta according to package directions.
(Cook) Heat a large pot over high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil and garlic. Cook garlic for about a minute until it is fragrant and then add the onion and a sprinkle of salt. Saute the onion 4-5 minutes until it is softened and then add the bell pepper.
Add the ground beef and the spices (About a teaspoon each of Garlic powder, Onion powder, Nutritional Yeast, White Pepper). Separate the beef into small pieces with your spoon and saute until it is uniformly browned and cooked. Drain the excess liquid.
Turn the heat to low and add the tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and a sprinkle of dried basil. Add 1 tsp baking soda and mix it in (it’s normal if the sauce bubbles a bit) Take the tomato sauce off the heat and set it to the side.
Cook the mushrooms in a separate pan and drain the excess liquid. Then cook the zucchini.
(Serve) Add the pasta, mushrooms, and zucchini into the pot of tomato sauce. Stir everything together and serve!
NOTES:
*Any pasta shape will definitely work, but if penne isn’t one of your favorites because it’s like the only shape you can taste-test for doneness without burning yourself (of course by using a chopstick to go pasta fishing in the boiling water and then running it under cold water), then we will have to agree to disagree.
**Why baking soda? I was pretty skeptical of this actually making a difference, but I remember watching a YouTube video where they added it to a tomato sauce to cut down the acidity and thought I’d try it out. I tried it on a small scale by mixing a dash of baking soda into a spoonful of sauce and it definitely changed the flavor. I liked how it toned down the acidity, but I’d definitely check if you like the taste first before adding the rest of the baking soda to the big pot of sauce.
Also, adding salt to your pasta water makes all the difference, so I definitely recommend!
I usually only mix as much pasta with as much sauce that I think everyone will eat because storing the pasta separately from the sauce helps leftovers reheat better.
Source Recipe: Me!
THIS SEEMS SO MUCH BETTER THAN MY ONE TOMATO PARTY! WOW!