Happy Monday friends! I’m coming down from an amazing weekend celebrating one of my very best friends’ bachelorette party. Friday and Saturday were spent in a private chalet in the WI Dells – the weather was perfection, the drinks were flowing and my stomach still hurts from laughing so much. The friendships I have from my time at UW-LaCrosse are SO near and dear to my heart, and these girls are honestly my sister-friends for life. Even though we sometimes go months (and even years) from seeing each other all at the same time, when we get together it’s like nothing has changed and we pick right up. We all talk almost everyday (thanks technology) and are always encouraging, giving advice and just all around there for each other. Love you babes!
Yesterday when I got home, pretty exhausted, slightly sun burnt and excited for the finale of Game of Thrones – Casey and I decided comfort food was necessary. (By the way – Thrones fans…. OMG, what a way to end the season!) Casey had been on Dane duty all weekend and I missed him terribly. So after some seriously snuggles, we decided on pasta. I make this spaghetti sauce recipe all the time, and it never fails. Salty, hearty, and delicious over pasta of any kind. I’ve subbed the ground beef with both ground turkey and chicken in the past and they are slightly healthier alternatives, but you can’t beat the beef. LOL.
What You Need
- 1-1.5 lb ground beef
- 4 stalks of celery
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tbsp garlic
- 2 cans Hunts traditional pasta sauce
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- S + P to taste
- 1 tbsp butter
- EVOO to brown the meat
Brown the meat in a little olive oil, and when it’s ready – add chopped celery, onion & garlic – cook until the veggies are softened. Next, add the pasta sauce, spices and salt/pepper. I typically let this cook on very low for about 1-1.5 hours, and it will reduce a bit and thicken up. At the end I usually add just a little bit of butter to make it extra savory and silky (obviously this is not a required step, but sometimes you just need a little bit of butter). This makes a big batch, so you’ll definitely have leftovers to eat for lunches or it freezes really well too. We actually made a ton of this prior to Dane’s arrival and stocked our freezer. It was SO nice to just thaw it and put it over noodles in those first few sleep-deprived months!
This is wonderful over pasta of any kind – we used thin spaghetti this time. Serve it up with a little garlic bread and some red wine, and you’ve got a delicious, easy, comforting meal. You could always sneak more veggies in like green peppers, mushrooms, carrots or even zucchini – which all sound delicious! Speaking of zucchini, a lot of my friends have been making zoodles – we haven’t tried yet because Casey isn’t really a “squash guy”but it’s on my list to experiment with as a carb-free option. This would be great over those too! Enjoy!
Staying Martha 
One thought on “Spaghetti Sauce Perfection”