Spaghetti Sauce (Easy Italian Style with 6 Ingredients)

Spaghetti Sauce (Easy Italian Style with 6 Ingredients)

Course Main Courses

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 5

Servings for 1 lb of spaghetti

Calories 278

Author Christina Conte

Italian style spaghetti sauce with meat.

Ingredients

4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic (fresh)
1 Tbsp Italian parsley (fresh, chopped)
8 oz ground beef (grass fed)
1 tsp Kosher salt (or sea salt, more to taste)
28 oz tomato puree (jarred, Italian)
10 leaves basil (fresh, Italian)
⅛ tsp black pepper (optional, to taste)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Crush the garlic with the flat side of a knife.
Bring the extra virgin olive oil (and lard, if using) to medium high heat, then add the garlic and chopped parsley.
After a minute, add the ground beef and break up with a wooden spoon. Add some salt, and cook until it begins to dry up, then add the tomato passata/purèe/chopped tomatoes of your choice.
If using Mutti, they tend to be thick, so add about ¾ cup (177 ml) of water or until the bottom line of the jar (shake to rinse) then add to the pot. If you're using another brand, rinse the can/jar with a little less water, unless it's very thick.
Put the burner on high to bring the sauce to a simmer, and add more salt. Don't be afraid to add Kosher/sea salt as I can guarantee you will have much less sodium in this sauce than a jar of store-bought.
Lower the heat so that the sauce simmers gently for about an hour, stirring occassionally (so that the sauce won't stick). Taste for seasoning after about 30 minutes, and add salt if needed.
When the sauce is ready, check once again for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as desired, and a generous amount of fresh basil, torn into pieces.

Notes

Choosing tomatoes: passata/purée or for the best quality, look for Pomodoro San Marzano Dell'Agro Sarnese-Nocerino DOP tomatoes--which are only ever whole, peeled tomatoes grown in a certain region of Italy

To serve properly (this is important for flavor) follow these directions:

If you want to use a colander to drain the spaghetti, reserve some pasta water. Otherwise, use a pasta fork to take the pasta directly from the pot and place into the sauce (either remove some of the sauce from the pot, or use another pot to mix the pasta and sauce together). Just remember, the spaghetti goes into the sauce, not the other way around. You can have it over very low heat to keep the pasta super hot (how I like it).
Mix well. If the pasta soaks up the sauce and seems too dry, add a little pasta water.
Add sauce until the pasta is completely coated.
There are two ways to serve spaghetti: twirled (more of a restaurant style), or simply placed as is, into a bowl (family-style).

To serve restaurant style, use a large fork, or tongs to twirl the pasta inside a ladle. Then simply place onto the bowl, or plate. Top with a sprig of basil, and serve! Otherwise, simply place in the bowl, family-style.
Top with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Nutrition

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