The catch with good spaghetti is in the sauce and you have to simmer it low and slow for HOURS to get that Italian Grammy feel! I have loved Italian food all of my life and I can't blame that on any ancestry I'm just a pasta junkie. So I spent years perfecting my meat sauce recipe to what it is now and the only thing that ever differs is which SURPRISE VEGGIE I'm sneaking in for my kids! hahahaha!
So what this recipe entails is making the sauce in an instant pot, combining both ground beef and sausage, several herbs and spices and cooking it low and slow! The best way to cook almost anything actually!
Here's what you'll need:
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb of ground beef
1 lb of ground sausage (any flavor you like)
1 large can of prepared spaghetti sauce (any brand, traditional/plain flavor is best, I use Ragu)
3 small cans of tomato sauce
2 cups of water
4 tsp of garlic powder
3 tsp of onion powder
2 tsp of pink Himalayan salt (link)
4 tsp of black pepper
2 tsp of Avocado oil (link)
1 package of spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup of diced onion (any color)
1/2 cup of diced bell pepper (any color)
2 garlic gloves diced
1/2 cup of any veggie diced (I usually go with squash, zuchinni or something with a very mild flavor)
2 tbsp of butter
1 cup of cheese (either mozzerela, colby jack or any type you prefer)
1/2 cup of Ricotta cheese (optional, if you prefer a creamier sauce)
INSTRUCTIONS:
-Dice your onion, pepper, garlic cloves and surprise veggie into small pieces and put in a sauce pan with the 2 tbsp of butter and caramelize them. You want to cook them on about a 7 heat for 3-5 minutes, don't burn them.
-Add your ground beef and sausage both at the same time to the caramelized veggies, add 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of pepper and the 1 tsp of Avocado oil to the meat mixture and break up and cook down the meat mixture.
-After the meat mixture is cooked through, add your can of prepared spaghetti sauce, all your tomato sauce cans and give it a good stir. Then add 1 tsp of salt, 2 tsp of black pepper, 4 tsp of garlic powder and 3 tsp of onion powder. Let this combine and simmer on the stove top at about a heat of 5 for maybe 10 minutes.
-Pour your meat spaghetti sauce into your instant pot and put it on the "stew/meat" setting for 5 hours, adjust it down to the lowest pressure and turn your pressure valve to sealed.
-Once the timer goes off on your Instantpot, start your stock pot of boiling water for your noodles, add 1 tsp of avocado oil to help the noodles separate as they cook and get that turned up to high to bring it to a boil.
-While you're waiting for the noodle water to come to a boil, open your Instant Pot, give it a good stir and add in 2 cups of water, stir it again and then add your 1 cup of cheese of your choice. Mozzarella makes a good compliment to the tomatoes but so does Colby jack and I've tried Gouda in it as well and it was nice! If you want to go for a creamier sauce (less chunky and meaty) you can add 1/2 a cup of ricotta cheese to the sauce at this point as well.
-Put the lid back on the InstanPot and put it on the "stew/meat" setting again and set it for 15 minutes.
-Once your water comes to a boil add your noodles and cook based on package directions, usually 8-10 minutes, pulling the noodles apart and stirring them around every 2-3 minutes. Once done, drain the water off the noodles. Then put them in a big bowl with 1 tsp of butter and stir them around to let the butter coat the noodles.
-Open up your InstanPot when done, stir your sauce and give it a TASTE before you do anything else. At this point you might want to add a touch more salt, pepper, garlic powder or onion powder. Make it however you like it. Once you feel it's perfect you can serve up your spaghetti in separate or combined, in whichever fashion you choose! Enjoy!!!
xoxo,
Elizabeth
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