Busy Family Pasta

Yield: 8 servings prep time: 10-15 min cook time: 10-15 min total time: 20-30 min

This is an easy pasta dish to make for the whole family! My mom would make this dish for me and my brothers whenever she was tight on time, and I thought it was the best thing ever. So, from my family to yours, enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cup of dry pasta of your choice (I used elbow)
• 1 lb of ground beef or ground meat of your choice
• 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 of a large yellow onion diced (you can substitute 1/4 cup of dried minced onion)*
• 2-3 cloves of minced garlic
• 3 tbsp of butter (portioned out)
• 4 tbsp of olive oil (portioned out)
• 1 tbsp of sugar (may use more)

Seasoning:

Season as you go and season to taste

• Italian Seasoning
• Herbes de Provence
• Crushed Red Pepper (only a small amount)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Beef boullion

Fill a large pot 3/4th of the way with water. Bring water to a boil, and make sure to generously salt the water before adding the pasta.

While the water is coming to a boil, in another pan, start to saute the finely chopped onions in 2 tsp oil and 1 tbsp butter for about 4-5 minutes before adding the beef.

After the onions have sauteed for 4-5 minutes, add the beef and start to break it down. As the beef is beginning to cook, add the garlic and mix together. Once the garlic is well incorporated, season the beef with the above-listed seasonings minus the beef boullion

*If using minced onions don't add until the beef is starting to cook.

It is important to note that you want to use a good amount of Italian Seasoning and Herbs de Providence. Depending on how spicy you want your pasta to be, will reflect on the amount of Red Pepper flakes you will use. I used about a pinch for flavor.

Once the noodles are cooked, drain and put back into the same pot. Be careful removing the pot from the stove and when draining the noodles. Use potholders and make sure to stand back when draining so you aren't hitting the steam coming from the noodles. Add 1 tbsp of butter and 2 tsp of olive oil to the noodles and mix until combined.

Once the beef is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside. In the same pan, add 2 cans of diced tomatoes. As the tomatoes are coming to a boil, add 1 tsp of sugar to counter the acidity of the tomatoes. Season to taste.

While tomatoes are cooking, crush the tomatoes to create the desired consistency. If you like a chunkier sauce, only crush the tomatoes slightly. If a smoother sauce is desired, heavily crush the tomatoes at this time.

After you have gotten the tomatoes to the consistency that you like and the taste of the sauce is good, bring the tomatoes to a gentle boil. Once you achieve a gentle boil in the sauce, add the beef and mix until well combined.

Add in the noodles and mix until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*Pro-tip: if you want to add a depth of flavor to this dish, use beef bouillon at this point instead of salt

Dish and serve. Cheese is a great topper for this dish, I used parmesan.