Spaghetti & Meat Sauce Recipe

Spaghetti is a family staple of ours. We have it often and I always keep its' ingredients on hand so I can make it fast when I've got nothing else to serve the family. This recipe can be made with or without meat, and my child started enjoying it as early as 15 months of age.

Ingredients:

- 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
- 4 cans (6 oz) tomato paste
- 48 oz water (2-to-1 ratio of water-to-paste, or 8 cans)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons salt (vary this to taste)
- 3 teaspoons pepper (vary this to taste)
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 2 tablespoons olive oil 

Directions:

Boil large pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt. 

If you want beef in your sauce,  fry minced beef over medium heat in a saucepan. Set aside when cooked through (no red meat remaining). Drain any remaining beef juices.

Add onion and olive oil to the pan and cook over moderate heat until transparent. Mix in garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add paste, water and spices and simmer for 5 minutes.

Once water is boiling add pasta and cook according to pasta package (usually 9 minutes for instant spaghetti pasta, 13 minutes for regular spaghetti pasta). To measure out the pasta, curl your thumb and index finger into a 1-inch wide circle and fill with pasta. This will usually serve 1 adult.

Drain and serve immediately.

Other notes:

I try to use tomato paste that is pure tomato, with no added salt or other ingredients. Fresh basil is nice, but I usually don't have it handy. You can also reduce the sugar to taste. It does reduce a little the sourness of the tomato paste. Water can be increased if you like your spaghetti sauce thin. This recipe will produce a sauce that is just thin enough that it won't run (if that makes sense!).