Rich and Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

I've been going out to eat a lot lately and one of my goals is to try out new recipes and just cook at home more often. Trying out new recipes at home can be a lot of fun!

Different food and scents bring back different memories for me. With this spaghetti sauce, my house smelled of green peppers and garlic and that brought back floods of memories of my Grandfather. He used to cook with these ingredients often. I even spoke at his funeral and said:

"If I close my eyes, I can still smell Grandpas sauce cooking on the stove..."

This rich and meaty spaghetti sauce is my go-to spaghetti sauce recipe. It's surprisingly easy to make, and ready in just over an hour. It doesn't take much prep work either! You can, obviously, serve it over any type of cooked pasta - last night I choose good old fashioned spaghetti! 

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small green bell pepper, diced

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

*Disclaimer: I added 8oz of fresh, sliced mushrooms because I LOVE mushrooms*

Ok, got your shopping done? Great! "Now what?", you ask? Simple! 

Instructions

1. Combine the ground beef, onion, garlic and green pepper (mushrooms too if you add those) in a large saucepan. I used my electric skillet, and it worked just fine! Cook and stir the mixture until the ground beef is browned and the vegetables are tender. 

2. Drain the grease. No one wants an oily sauce!

3. Stir in the tomato paste, tomato sauce and the diced tomatoes. 

4. Season with the oregano, basil, salt and pepper. 

5. Have the sauce simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

That's it! So easy, right!? As the sauce is simmering, you can boil the water and cook your pasta.

*Disclaimer: I added a squeeze of ketchup half way through the simmering process. The sweetness of the ketchup cuts down on the acidity of the tomatoes. I also added some red pepper chili flakes at the same time for a little kick*

I'm also a lover of parmesan cheese on my pasta...so, of course I smothered my serving with a bunch!