Everyone has their own particular favorite pasta and sauce combo and there is nothing quite like a platter loaded with that favorite pasta and sauce combo. I find it best to cook the sauce in three stages.

Stage One – The first step is to brown the meat

Stage Two – The second phase sees us cooking the tomatoes and other vegetables in the same pan as the meat using the drippings after the meat has been removed of course. We will also cook the pasta at this time.

Stage Three – While in stage three we bring everything together. It is here that we will use some of the leftover water from cooking the pasta as it does add that extra indefinable layer of flavor to the sauce.

Ingredients

• 500 Grams (a little over a pound) of lean Ground Mince (you can use beef, lamb, pork or game mince or indeed any combination of meats that takes your fancy here)
• 30 Ounces of Fresh Roma Tomatoes (1 Large Can of Crushed or Diced Roma Tomatoes if the fresh varieties on offer aren’t up to scratch or are excessively overpriced)
• 1 Medium/Large Onion
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• ½ Cup each of Fresh Basil, Shredded Parmesan Cheese and Red Wine (don’t be stingy on the quality of the wine as it will show in the flavor of the sauce. Sweet Marsala wine is good to use here but you may wish to change the quantity down to 1/3 of a cup).
• 2 Tablespoons of Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tablespoon each of Minced Ginger and Lemon Juice
• 1 Teaspoon of Sugar
• ½ Teaspoon each of Salt and freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preparation

• Peel and medium dice the onion
• Crush and dice the garlic (a garlic press would do wonderfully here)
• Dice the basil

Cooking

1. Bring a cast iron fry pan up to temperature and then add a little cooking oil of your choice
2. Next add the meat and the ginger. Stir to mix the ginger throughout the meat and then flatten so the pan contains what looks like one large meat patty.
3. Cook until meat has browned. Then turn the meat over and cook the other side until it has browned too. If you poke a hole in the meat and don’t see any red to pink colored meat it is done.
4. Drain the excess fat out of the pan and transfer meat to a warmed bowl. Cover and set to one side.
5. Turn heat to low and return some of the meat drippings to the fry pan, add a little olive oil, then add the onions, cover and sauté the onions for about 11 minutes
6. Now add the garlic and basil. Stir quickly then put the cover back on and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. Begin cooking the pasta as per directions. Add a splash of olive oil and some salt to the water before you add the pasta. This will help prevent the pasta from tasting bland and becoming over-sticky.
8. Now return the meat to the fry pan and stir to mix the onions, basil and garlic through the meat. Cover and let come up to a medium heat
9. Uncover and add the wine. Leave uncovered and cook to reduce by a little over one half.
10. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and simmer for about 15 minutes
11. Add some of the pasta water, sugar and lemon juice. Continue simmering and stirring for about 5 minutes.
12. Cover and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. If you want to intensify the flavors leave uncovered for a while longer to reduce the liquid component of the sauce.

To Serve:

Portion out the pasta onto plates or use spaghetti bowls then using a large serving spoon lavish the pasta with the sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Tips:

While most people will use spaghetti as the pasta I do prefer vermicelli. Try some it really does work well in this type of dish. Just remember to add some oil and salt to the water in which you are going to cook the pasta.

Vermicelli as a finer and thinner type of long pasta compared with standard spaghetti. Not only does it taste better but has far less tendency to become sticky and leave the diner with that heavy stomach feeling (i.e. a little bloated)