SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE AND VEGETABLES

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE AND VEGETABLES

DINNER AT HOME

There are those days when I work eleven hours, pick up my daughter from school and get home and try to take an hour walk.  That does not leave a lot of time to prep or cook a meal especially when I did not plan or buy anything at the store. On this night,  I basically looked into the refrigerator and tried to use whatever we have.  I found some frozen ground beef and a little pork in the freezer so I thought some kind of a meat sauce would be good.  We had those big bags of Celery, Bell Peppers and Carrots that you buy at Costco so I wanted to use them up and incorporate them into the sauce.  I always keep a good supply of Bertolli Tomato and Basil Sauce in our pantry as it is simply the best tasting sauce in a jar that we have found.  It is super inexpensive too with three jar packages now being sold at Sam's Club for around $7. This is less than $2.50 per jar.  This dish takes just minutes to prepare and it is delicious and very inexpensive.  Made enough sauce to feed a family of three for at least three days.

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SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE AND VEGETABLES

ONIONS, GARLIC, CELERY AND BELL PEPPERS (I ADDED CARROTS TOO)

SAUTE ONIONS AND GARLIC IN OLIVE OIL

ADD IN THE GROUND BEEF AND PORK AND COOK  

THROW IN ALL OF THE VEGETABLES AND STIR.  I ALSO ADD SALT, PEPPER AND OREGANO HERE

HEAT UNTIL THE VEGETABLES ARE ABOUT HALF WAY COOKED.  I LIKE A LITTLE CRUNCH IN MY VEGGIES AND THEY COOK THROUGH WHILE SIMMERING IN THE SAUCE

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND BERTOLLI SAUCES.  THEY ARE DELICIOUS AND SAVE TIME

ADD TWO JARS OF BERTOLLI SAUCE

STIR THOROUGHLY AND SIMMER FOR AT LEAST 30 MINUTES

SERVE WITH A LITTLE ITALIAN PARSLEY AND GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE AND VEGETABLES

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE AND VEGETABLES

DINNER AT HOME 

Literally opened the refrigerator and pulled out any vegetables that we had.  Half of onion here, celery, half of a tomato, bell pepper, carrot and some herbs that were just about to go bad.  Sauteed them up with garlic and added them to some ground beef.  Poured in two bottles of Bertolli Tomato and Basil Sauce that we got on sale for two for $5.  In less than an hour dinner was on the table and everyone was happy.  I love these simple, quick, cheap and pretty healthy meals that actually taste better than most restaurants. UPDATE:  I use a lot of variations for this recipe.  For example sometimes I use Ground Beef and Italian Sausage or Ground Beef and Pork.  Also don't always use Bell Pepper and sometime add Mushrooms.  Pretty much goes with what we have in the refrigerator at that time.  After you sautés the vegetables, remove them from the pan and cook the meat/s.  Then add the vegetables back in and then pour in the sauce.  I simmer on very low heat for one to two hours.  

SPAGHETTI WITH MEAT SAUCE

COOK GROUND BEEF WITH GARLIC AND
ADDED TEASPOON OF DRIED OREGANO

CARROTS, BELL PEPPER, CELERY, ONION, GARLIC,
ITALIAN PARSLEY AND BASIL

SAUTE GARLIC AND ONIONS.  ADDED SOME DRIED
RED PEPPER FLAKES TOO

REALLY GOOD SAUCE OUT OF A JAR WAS 2 FOR $5

ADD VEGETABLES TO GARLIC AND ONION AND SAUTE

COMBINE COOKED GROUND BEEF WITH VEGETABLES,
ONION AND GARLIC.  

ADDED FRESH BASIL, ITALIAN PARSLEY AND BERTOLLI SAUCE

PAPPARDELLE BOLOGNESE

PAPPARDELLE BOLOGNESE

DINNER AT HOME

I broke out The Babbo Cookbook by Mario Batali and found a nice recipe for Bolognese Sauce with Pasta.  The dish includes ground beef, ground pork, pancetta, onion, carrots, garlic, tomato paste, milk, white wine, fresh thyme and parmigiano-reggiano cheese.  The recipe also called for some veal but we did not have any so we did not include it.  The sauce cooks for 1 1/2 hours and then is mixed with the Pappardelle Pasta.  This was excellent.  Next time I will add a little more tomato sauce or paste.