Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

How many spaghetti recipes can one girl post?

I must confess: I love pasta. Pasta is probably one of my favorite foods whether it's the main course or on the side. I'm sure anyone who likes spaghetti has a favorite sauce. Mine is actually the sauce from Louis' Drive-In here in Knoxville, TN. It's probably one of the only ground beef sauces I truly enjoy.



Their sauce is spicy without any hint of sweetness. I'm not sure how they take the acidic edge off of the tomatoes but they obviously accomplish it without the use of any kind of sugar. It's really one of a kind. No matter how many times I've tried to replicate it I just can't.

Tonight's spaghetti actually wasn't my favorite, but it was popular with the rest of the family. Aaron and Bailey both liked it and Bailey even fed some to the cat who gobbled it down and then cleaned the high chair tray and seat while Bailey was in the tub. I really hope Rhada can handle spaghetti or I'll be in for a lot of work cleaning the floor tomorrow.

Anyway, I've posted at least one spaghetti and meatballs recipe (possibly two if I'm not mistaken) and Yaya's sausage spaghetti. I decided it was time to try a meat sauce. The original blogger says that it's a family recipe, her husband's family that is. It's simple although perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste. It's also relatively cheap as I managed to get my ground chuck $0.75 off last week.

If you don't like your sauce sweet (Aaron's mom prefers it not to be sweet) then I would suggest cutting the amount of sugar. The 2 Tbsp the recipe calls for is probably twice as much as I like. Experiment and make it the way you like it.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Source: Table for Two

1 lb ground beef (I used ground chuck, 80/20)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
28 oz can tomato puree
2 Tbsp sugar (I'll probably only use 1 Tbsp next time)
generous pinch onion powder
generous pinch garlic powder
generous pinch oregano
handful fresh basil, chopped (or torn)
salt and pepper to taste
16 oz freshly cooked pasta (I used regular spaghetti but if you like shapes this would be good with rotini)

In a large pot brown the ground beef. Cook it just until it is crumbled and no longer pink. Drain or spoon out as much of the grease as possible.

Add the olive oil and garlic and cook on medium heat about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, water, tomato puree, and spices (including the fresh basil) and stir, making sure the tomato paste gets mixed in well.

Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally. (The original recipe says to simmer the sauce for at least 2 hours.)

Serve hot over pasta with a side of garlic bread to sop up the sauce.