I thawed about 3lbs of ground chuck yesterday, thinking I'd maybe make a meat loaf? Wife wanted meaty spaghetti sauce. We had these cans of cheap, awful plain sauce the food bank gives us all the time. So I used it as a base for a Bolognese style sauce that came out real close to the one mom used to make at home. It has a rich flavor, but not all that heavy. Ate upstairs with wife, so no pics. Gotta do that next time.
+/- 3lbs) Ground chuck
2 medium) 1 white onion, one yellow, small dice
2 stalks) Celery, small dice
3- 15oz cans) Cheap, Vine Ripe Brand " traditional" spaghetti sauce. Makes a good base for recipes, being quite bland.
About 1/4 bottle) Italian seasoning ( I use Marcum, Save-a-Lot store brand), 3/4oz bottle containing Marjoram, Thyme, Savory, Rosemary, Sage, Oregano & Basil.
2 squares) Tomato bullion
Extra virgin olive oil
1 TBSP) Garlic powder
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste
2 lbs) Spaghetti noodles ( we like whole wheat)
3 TBSP) Table sugar
8ozs) OPTIONAL; Mushrooms, sliced thin. Oil-cured Kalamata olives, sliced thin. Parmigiano Regiono for gratin' on spaghetti.
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I didn't use any extra salt, since the tomato bullion seemed salty enough to my taste. Flavor seemed just right to me. Yrmv. Heat up a large chop pan over just above medium heat. Pour in some of the olive oil to not quite coat the pan. As it heats up, it'll thin out & coat the bottom of the pan. Crumble ground chuck into pan, using a plain, old-fashioned potato masher to break it up into small chunks as it cooks. When it just turns light brown, use a cookin' spoon to baste off about 2/3's of the oil, fat & juices. We'll need that little bit to cook the rest of the way. It leaves a bit of browned flavor on the meat too. Add small diced onions & celery ( mushrooms & olives too if added), folding with spoon often as it all cooks. The water for the spaghetti noodles should be boiling at this point. Dump the 2lbs of spaghetti noodles in the boiling water, whole & unbroken. Use tongs to fold & separate as they soften & start to cook 12 minutes.
Keep folding the mixture to cook evenly, adding the tomato bullion squares in crumbles. When veggies are cooked to where the onions are just starting to get translucent, add the 3 cans of tomato sauce & fold in with a healthy drizzle of the olive oil. Crack black pepper into it with the garlic powder & Italian seasoning. Fold in to mix it up real good. Loosen spaghetti noodles with tongs again to keep from clumping as you mind the sauce. The sauce will thicken as it simmers, folding it constantly so it doesn't burn. Fold in the sugar & correct seasonings as needed. The sugar kills the acid a bit, richening the flavor a tad. When noo0dles are done, but just a tad chewy, drain well in a colander, returning to boiling pot with some of the olive oil. on the hot burner, now off. Toss spaghetti noodles in it to cook them ever so slightly to thin the oil & soak it into the noodles. This gives another layer of flavor to the dish. I saw an Italian cook do this once in Tuscany. It definitely adds a fresh olive sorta flavor to the noodles!
You can serve 6 folks a heapin' helpin' of this spaghetti, or stretch it to 8 & still get a good-size servin'. You could also make a pan of corn bread to go with this.
