Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce (Mommyghetti)

I grew up on this sauce; it was always a family favourite and is now a guaranteed win with the kid. It’s also a great way to cram a ton of vegetables into your diet…and clean them out of your fridge.

Most of the measurements are rough: alter them to your tastes. The quantities below are more than will fit into my 7-quart crock pot (I usually skip a couple of the vegetables). I freeze the extra sauce in small batches (2 to 4 cups) for easy weekday meals.

2 lbs ground beef

½ to 1 tbsp steak seasoning or Montreal steak spice

¼ cup Memories of Kobe sauce (optional)

4 cans (798 mL each) crushed or ground tomatoes

10 oz spinach or other leafy green, fresh or frozen (optional), chopped fine

olive oil for frying

3 large (grapefruit-size) Spanish onions, diced small

6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs mushrooms, cremini or white, sliced or diced small

2 to 4 zucchinis and/or summer squash (optional), diced small

1 eggplant (optional), diced small

a few stalks celery and/or fennel (optional), diced small

3 or 4 sweet red/yellow/orange peppers, peeled (optional), diced small

1 to 3 tbsp dried oregano

1 to 3 tbsp dried basil

1 to 2 tbsp dried Italian seasoning mix

1 to 4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

In a large skillet, brown and crumble ground beef with the steak spice. Near the end of cooking, add the Memories of Kobe sauce. Place in crock pot set on high, along with tomatoes and spinach.

In batches, use the same skillet to lightly brown each of the vegetables in olive oil and a bit of salt, then add them to the crock pot. Don’t skimp on the oil during this stage: the sauce is unsatisfying without it. You only need a tablespoon or so per batch, it adds depth of flavour to the sauce, and in the end it really isn’t that much oil when divide among six or seven quarts.

Once all the vegetables are in, add in some seasoning and give it a good stir. Cook on (preferably) low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. (Sauce can also be simmered for an hour or two on the stovetop over low heat; keep a close eye on it to prevent burning.) About an hour before mealtime, taste the sauce and add more seasoning as desired.

Serve over whatever pasta you like (reserve some pasta water to thin the sauce if desired), or polenta, spaghetti squash, mashed potatoes, rice, whatever!

Sweet-Hot Beef

We love, love, LOVE this quick and easy meal. I make this when I am feeling tired and uninspired. It survives both whole wheat pasta and ground turkey substitutions well. Round it out with a Caesar salad.

1 lb ground beef
½ cup water
¾ cup raisins (sultanas are best)
1½ tsp ground cumin
1¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 can (398 mL) tomato sauce
½ lb spaghettini or other thin round noodle
1 tbsp lemon juice
minced parsley

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown beef, stirring to crumble.

Once beef is cooked, stir in the next eight ingredients (water through tomato sauce). Simmer on low heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Remove sauce from heat and stir in lemon juice. Toss together with spaghettini and top with parsley.

Salisbury Steak Patties in Mushroom Gravy

Hmm, what to do with that appetizing tube of beef? Isn’t it cute in its bright red package? How can you not love food that comes in a tube???

1½ lbs ground beef
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 green onions, sliced fine
1 tbsp prepared mustard
a few generous shakes of steak seasoning, (or some salt, pepper, and a pinch each of cayenne and dill)
1 can beef gravy
1 tray sliced mushrooms
½ cup water
2 tsp horseradish

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Beware the overmixing!* Divide the mixture into 4 to 6 patties.

In a large skillet, cook the patties on medium-high until brown, about 4 minutes each side.

Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour over patties. Simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes, until mushrooms are tender.

Serve with mashed potatoes, plus a green vegetable of some sort, if you’re felling guilty about, well, beef.**

*I am an incurable overmixer. Left alone, this leads to tough meat and burgers that seize up in their middles during cooking. There’s an easy fix though: if you show the meat a little too much love (uh, that sounds WAY wrong), take a fork or a pair of chopsticks to your meat mixture after combining it and “fluff” it (stab, and lift; stab, and lift). Adding a bit of air back in will cancel out all that nasty squishing you just inflicted on your poor, helpless meatballs.

**I never, ever, get around to the green vegetable on this meal. It’s all about the beef and potato, baby.