WEEKNIGHT
SPAGHETTI
WITH MEAT SAUCE
In college, there was nothing easier than throwing a
pound of ground beef into a pot, adding a jar of pasta
sauce, and simmering them together, then tossing it all
with pasta and calling it dinner. Tasty enough to be sure,
but knowing what we know now, we can do a little better.
For this sauce, I added carrot and celery to the onions to
form the base of the marinara, along with the requisite
garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. A couple of
anchovy fillets add richness and meaty depth to the
flavor. Anchovies contain both glutamates and inosinates
—natural compounds that enhance the inherent meatiness
of other ingredients, a factor further supported here by
the use of glutamate-rich tomato paste. Chopping all the
ingredients in the food processor makes short work of
them.
As for the meat, I tried using straight-up ground beef
but found that the texture was a little too tough without
the benefit of a long, slow simmer (after all, I wanted this
on the table within an hour or two). Instead, I decided to
incorporate a technique frequently used for meat loaves
and meatballs. By adding another element to the meat—
mushrooms, in this case—and blending it right in, I was
able to break up its texture, preventing it from getting