I make rigatoni and meat sauce as a variation of spaghetti and meatballs, one of Kevin’s favorite dishes. Meat sauce is quicker to make and tastes just as delicious as meatballs. It’s the perfect substitute for meatballs when you don’t have the time to roll out the meatballs, brown all sides, and bake them. Over the weekend, I prepared a large batch of rigatoni and meat sauce to enjoy for dinner (and to pack for lunch in the upcoming week). My preferred meat sauce has onion, red pepper, and green pepper. You can also add any other crunchy vegetable you like. The first time I made meat sauce, I used just a can of whole tomatoes crushed by hand and something was definitely missing. Over time, I started enhancing the tomato flavor by adding tomato paste. Adding tomato paste deepens the tomato flavor and adds a more intense tomato flavor to the meat sauce. You can pretty much use any type of pasta you have in your pantry. I only had a box of rigatoni in my pantry so I used it as the pasta for my meat sauce. The base of the meat sauce is a variation of my marinara sauce. Read more about my marinara sauce here. Eating a hearty bowl of rigatoni and meat sauce on a cold fall day is very warming, filling, and simply delicious. The entire meal can be prepared and served in under an hour.
Meat Sauce
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 pound ground beef (85% lean, 15% fat)
· 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 1 small onion, diced
· 1 red pepper, diced
· 1 green pepper, diced
· 3-5 garlic cloves, minced
· 1 teaspoon fine sugar
· ½ teaspoon dried oregano
· ½ teaspoon dried basil
· ½ teaspoon dried parsley
· 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, hand crushed
· 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
· Rigatoni, cooked according to package instructions
Directions:
1) Heat a pot to medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Brown the ground beef in the pot, about 5-10 minutes. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Remove the beef to a plate. Add the onion, peppers, and garlic into the pot. Cook until the onion and peppers are translucent, about 5-10 minutes. Add the beef back into the pot. Add the sugar, oregano, basil, parsley, hand crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cook all of the ingredients in the pot for 20-30 minutes.
2) To serve, add the cooked rigatoni and toss with the meat sauce.
Takeaways: Meat sauce can be made with any vegetables and combined with any pasta of choice. I’ve used ground pork in the past and also added carrots at one point to the meat sauce. To add even more tomato flavor to the meat sauce, you can fold in some chopped fresh tomatoes. I also tried adding Thai basil to the meat sauce another time and it added a wonderful scent and flavor to the dish.