Want to know one common ingredient that is secretly introducing refined sugars and seed oils into your family’s dinner? Spaghetti sauce. Most store bought spaghetti sauce contains both refined sugar and seed oils. There are definitely some that don’t but they are pricey, even at places like Costco. So I decided to create my own spaghetti sauce using regular old canned tomato sauce. What I really love about this recipe is that it gives us everything we need in one pan: protein from the beef, healthy carbs, and lots of veggies. Cut up the veggies really small, and even the pickiest eaters will hardly notice they’re there! This is also one of my favorite recipes to put ground liver in, as the tomato sauce is strong enough to kill any liver undertones in the dish. If you’re trying to get protein and veggies into a picky eater’s dinner, this recipe is going to become one your new go-to!
Prep Time: 10min. Cook Time: 20min.
Ingredients:
4lbs ground beef (you could substitute some beef for ground or finely chopped liver)
4 Tbsp olive/avocado oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
4 tsp Italian seasoning
Dash of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
12-16 oz pasta (depending on your preferred pasta to sauce ratio) *see notes
Directions:
1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Add the oil to a large pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, green bell pepper, and mushrooms. Sauté until the veggies have softened and the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until the beef is completely browned.
4. Add the sea salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and tomato paste and stir to combine. Cook until the tomato paste is starting to incorporate well into the mixture, but not so long the hamburger starts to burn.
5. Add the cans of tomato sauce and the can of diced tomatoes, stir to combine.
6. Stir in the garlic.*
7. Add cooked and drained pasta to the skillet and stir to combine well.
Notes:
*We really like both red lentil pasta and the Jovial brown rice pasta. These pastas are minimally processed, actually containing only red lentils and brown rice, and they taste good! The red lentil pasta is our favorite, however, most non-organic lentils are sprayed with glyphosate shortly before harvest, so we find organic red lentil pasta at Natural Grocers.
*Most recipes will have you sauté the minced garlic with the other veggies. I prefer to add my garlic in at the end of the recipe. When garlic is chopped, a chemical reaction creates the compound known as allicin. Allicin is what is responsible for making garlic so healthy. It is a potent anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and immunity booster. However, this chemical reaction takes time to occur. When you chop garlic then immediately cook it, the allicin has not been fully formed and is not heat stable so, therefore, will not survive the cooking process. When you do not let garlic rest and then cook it, you are losing almost all of the amazing benefits garlic has to offer. It is generally recommended to let garlic sit for 10-15 minutes at room temperature after being chopped to allow the allicin to be fully formed and heat stable. This is why I add my garlic in at the end of my recipes. You could, of course, be prepared and chop your garlic then wait 10 minutes and sauté it with the rest of the veggies, but this rarely seems to happen to me and I have found that my method also prevents accidentally burning the garlic.