Today, I am going to discuss how to make pasta with homemade meat sauce. This recipe yields the most delicious meat sauce that I have ever had, even including those at restaurants.
I am writing to everyone today because I believe that college students are in need of tutelage in home cooking. Many of my friends make sad meals that are only fit for children, simply because they do not know how to make real food. My roommate, for example, eats like a 4-year-old because of his lack of culinary knowledge.
As such, my columns are going to primarily focus on simple recipes that students should make.
I learned this recipe from a family friend who is a skilled chef. Over time, I have expanded on his recipe to further suit it to my taste. It is my hope that all of you will make this and add your own ingredients if you so choose.
This recipe is perfect for students who live off-Grounds and have no idea how to make home-cooked foods. In addition to the recipe being delicious, it is also very simple to make and yields a gargantuan quantity of food.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 5-6
You will need:
1 lb of lean ground beef (~85 percent lean)
1 onion (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 jar of marinara sauce
1 box of angel hair pasta
1 container of olive oil
1 container of each of the following spices: oregano, basil, red pepper, salt and pepper
1 bag of Italian cheese
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
10 chopped olives
Direction:
- Spread a few tablespoons of oil across the pan and heat the pan on medium-high
- In a pot, boil 4 quarts of water.
- While waiting for water to boil, drizzle water in the pan to ensure that it is hot (the water will sizzle).
- Put the garlic, onion and green pepper into the pan and stir until the onions become brown and clear. Add more olive oil if the existing oil evaporates.
- Put the ground beef into the pan and separate with a spatula.
- Brown the meat in the pan by stirring it. Make sure the meat is fully browned and that no pink remains. While browning, add Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly.
- Mix the jar of marinara sauce in with the beef and veggies and stir.
- Add the spices and olives and stir. Be generous with the oregano, parsley and pepper, and use salt and red pepper sparingly — red pepper is spicy — and taste and add spices accordingly.
- Lower the heat and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- The water should be boiling by this point — add the noodles. They should take about three minutes to cook.
- Strain noodles. Spoon sauce over them and sprinkle the top with cheese.
- Enjoy!
Completed dish:
With the quantity of food this recipe makes, you will be able to have many meals. I, for one, can have five meals from this each time that I make it. This is impressive considering that I am well over 6-feet tall, and I eat a lot of food.
The necessary ingredients are also inexpensive. The total cost of the meal — for the meat, sauce, peppers, onions and cheese — was about $16. If I can eat five meals from this, that means that each meal was only $3.25, an unbeatable price for delicious and high-quality food.
In addition to the price being inexpensive, it also takes less time per meal to cook than it usually takes to procure food. Since it will take 40 minutes to make and you will get five meals out of it, this is an average of only eight minutes spent on each meal. Ordering food somewhere else or eating in a restaurant will take at least that long if not longer.
If you get tired of eating pasta with meat sauce, you can always give it to others, such as friends, roommates or your significant other. Anyone whom you give this meal to will be very impressed by your culinary aptitude.
One final part of this recipe that I love is its versatility. You can replace beef with any protein that you want. I recently had this meal with chicken and it turned out very well.
I hope that you all found this to be helpful and that you will use this recipe the next time that you are wondering about what you should have for dinner.
Mark Feinberg is a Food Columnist for The Cavalier Daily.
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