The first time I remember making spaghetti all by myself was right before I got married
for the first time. I had been living in the San Francisco bay area and working for AAA
as a tow-truck dispatcher. I invited all my co-workers, and all the drivers, and all the
garage folks over to this tiny apartment and boiled batch after batch of spaghetti to go
with a huge pot of spaghetti sauce. They liked it. I liked it. I thought I had invented
something remarkable. I know, now, that it’s really pretty ordinary. I mean, there are
actually people out there who put things like celery and onions, or even carrots, in their
spaghetti sauce. But I still like it, and I still make it this way, so here it is.
INGREDIENTS:
a little olive oil
2 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
2 lbs. ground beef
1/2 lb sliced raw mushrooms (mushrooms were really exotic in the early 70s)
2 BIG cans tomato puree
1 large can tomato paste
Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Thyme
1 package spaghetti
Grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese
PROCEDURE:
- Heat the olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven. Cast iron works especially well for this since the pan is thick and distributes the heat evenly.
- Add the minced garlic and the mushrooms. Cook over medium heat stirring so so the mushrooms brown but the garlic doesn't burn.
- Add the beef and continue cooking and stirring until it browns.
- Add tomato paste and stir. Then add puree. Add one large can of water now, and then add more little by little as necessary if you leave the sauce cooking for a long time.
- Now add the herbs and spices. You need at least 1 teaspoon of each. Try that for starters, and add more as necessary after an hour or so. Remember that the flavor will develop more fully as the sauce cooks. Stir and cook for at least an hour. The longer you let this simmer the better the flavor, but keep the heat very low.
- Half an hour before you want to eat, put a large pot of hot water on the stove, cover it, and let it come to a boil. Before adding the spaghetti, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil and a shake or two of salt. Stir the spaghetti a time or two after it begins to soften to separate the strands.
- Drain the spaghetti in a colander, and serve on individual plates with a big spoonful of sauce. Shake grated parmesan or romano cheese on top.
A Word about Meatballs:
If you feel the need, you can make your sauce separately without the meat and then add meatballs to it. I do this occasionally if I am feeding folks who for one reason or another don’t want to eat the meat - although this certainly doesn’t make a vegetarian sauce. To make the meatballs, mix the ground beef with some seasoning and some breadcrumbs and an egg and form it into balls about 1’ in diameter. Now the trick is to cook these before you start the sauce. Don’t fry them! They will fall apart and you’ll end up with browned ground beef just like above. Instead, put about an inch of water in your big frying pan or dutch oven and add the meatballs. Simmer for ten to twenty minutes, turning occasionally. At some point, the meatballs will be cooked and the water will be 90% gone with only a little brown juice in the bottom of the pan. Take out the meatballs (add them back in after the sauce is finished), leave the brown juice, and start with the instructions above.