Pasta with Meat Sauce
Pasta with meat sauce is a great weeknight dinner, but on a busy day, there’s not always time to let the sauce simmer. Dinner has to be ready quickly, preferably 10 minutes ago. This recipe is for just those days, but if you have a little extra time then feel free to let the sauce simmer.
We’ve added some extra vegetables in the form of grated carrots and zucchini, but feel free to use what you have on hand – bell peppers and mushrooms are also a nice addition.
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
2 pcs. Onion
2 pcs. Garlic cloves
2 pcs. Carrots large
0.5 pcs. Zucchini
2 tbsp. Olive oil
2 tsp. Thyme, dried
2 tsp. Oregano , dried
2 tsp. Basil , dried
Cayenne pepper , can be omitted
140 gram Tomato paste, concentrated
400 gram Minced beef
2 pcs. Canned diced tomatoes 2 cans of 400 g
1 pcs. Stock cube , vegetable or beef
1 tbsp. Soy sauce
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1-2 tsp. Syrup , can be omitted
Salt
Pepper
Pasta
1.5 l Water
1 tbsp. Salt
400 gram Pasta , dried pasta of your choice
Cheese for serving
Steps
Prepare the vegetables
Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into small dices and grate or chop the garlic finely.
Peel the carrots. Grate the carrots and zucchini coarsely.
Sauté the vegetables
Add oil to a pot and set the temperature to 150 ºC. Add the onions and garlic and fry until the onions are translucent. Then add the grated carrot and zucchini and heat through until the vegetables have slightly collapsed.
Add dried thyme, oregano, basil and a little cayenne pepper (if using). Sauté the spices briefly, then add the tomato puree and let it heat through.
Cook the meat
Add the meat. Break it up a little and cook it until browned.
Reduce the heat to 100 ºC. Add the chopped canned tomatoes, stock cube, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes while you cook the pasta.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper. If the sauce is a little too tart, then add a bit of syrup and if it’s a little too sweet, add more balsamic vinegar.
Cook the pasta
While the sauce simmers, you can cook your pasta.
Follow the steps in the attached recipe. The cooking time depends on the type of pasta you are using.
To serve
Serve the pasta topped with meat sauce and grated cheese.
Notes
The soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and syrup help to add a depth of flavour to the sauce, that you would otherwise get by letting it simmer for a longer period. But if you have time, then please let the sauce simmer for longer, as it will only make it better. You can replace the balsamic vinegar with 1 dl of red wine. Add the red wine before adding the canned tomatoes. Let the meat sauce simmer at 100 ºC for 1-3 hours, depending on how much time you have.
