Looking for an easy-to-cook supper? Pasta with meat sauce couldn’t be easier to make. If you don’t feel like chopping onions or crushing garlic, use dehydrated onion flakes and granulated garlic. The sauce is enough for one pound of pasta, so it feeds a crowd, or alternatively, a few teenage sons!

Simple Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 T. olive oil
• 1 small onion (or 1 T. dehydrated onion flakes)
• 4 cloves of garlic, grated with a microplane, or crushed (or 2 teaspoons granulated garlic)
• 2 pounds ground meat
• 1 16 oz. can of tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground fennel seed
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 lb. spaghetti, linguine, or buccatelli

Method:

1. Chop onion and sauté in olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven until translucent (if using dehydrated onion, skip this step.) Add crushed garlic and sauté just until the scent rises (if using granulated garlic, skip this step).
2. Raise heat to high. Add ground meat to pan and sauté until no long pink, gently breaking up the meat with a spatula as it cooks.
3. Add the tomato paste. Using the can from the tomato paste, add a can and a half of water to the meat. Add all spices, and if using dehydrated onion and/or granulated garlic, add them now.
4. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to very low.
5. As tomato sauce simmers, fill a large pot ¾ full with cold water. Bring to a boil, add a handful of salt, and cook the pasta as directed on the package.
6. Drain the pasta, and gently mix with meat sauce. Taste for seasoning, and serve hot.