My Grandma’s cooking was pretty straight forward – salt and pepper; nothing fancy, fairly simple - but some of the meals she made are still some of my favorite food memories. It took
me years to figure out this recipe because I didn’t have access to her recipes
when she passed away. I knew she used
bacon grease to cook the meat and veggies in, but I could never get the amount
of meat, veggies, and seasonings right – possible in part because she used to
use freshly canned tomato sauce. I
always added different seasonings (basil, oregano, Italian seasoning) thinking
that was the missing element, but in reality I was making more complicated than
what it really was. I’ve added a few
things to this recipe and tweaked a few things to make it my own (the 4 cloves of garlic and the crushed
red pepper), but the flavor profile of this sauce is definitely her sauce with a little kick. The key to this sauce is the amount of bacon grease and the
amount of time you let it simmer - so don't skimp on the bacon grease or the time you need to simmer it. I
did end up skimming off some of the fat from the sauce prior to tossing it with
the pasta, only because I could not in good conscience consume that much
grease. Luckily, the smoky flavor was
still present and after my first bite – it took me back to my childhood when I
use to spend my summers with my grandparents.
In fact to be more specific, it reminded me of the time my Pappy took me
and my cousins bike riding on the Towpath Trail and my cousin Marc ran into a
tree, because this is what we ate prior to our bike ride that day LOL (don’t
kill me Marc xoxo)!!! Ok – I’m starting
to ramble, so here is a recipe from my childhood that brings comfort to my
heart when I make it – hopefully it will do the same to yours.
Grandma’s Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
1 lb. of
Ground Sirloin
2 Green Bell
Peppers, diced
1 Small
Onion, diced
4 Cloves of
Garlic, minced
1 Jar of
Ragu, Old World Style Traditional Sauce
½ c. of
water
1 tbsp. of
Crushed Red Pepper
1 tbsp. of
Kosher Salt
½ tbsp. of
Black Pepper
2 tbsp. of
bacon drippings
12 oz. of
Thin Spaghetti, cooked to al dente
In a large
pot, melt the bacon drippings. Add the
ground sirloin, seasoning it with the salt, pepper, and crushed red
pepper. While cooking the meat, break it
up into small crumbles and cook it until it is no longer pink. Next add the
peppers, onions, and garlic – cooking it for an additional 5 minutes. Add the sauce to the pot, then add the 1/2c.
of water to the jar of spaghetti sauce (placing the lid back on) and shake
it. Pour the liquid into the pot and
bring the sauce to a boil; reduce the heat to medium low and simmer the sauce
for a minimum of 1 hour.
Thirty
minutes prior to serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook
the spaghetti until al dente and drain.
Return the spaghetti noodles to the pot and place it on the stove over
medium low heat. Begin ladling the sauce
over the spaghetti noodles, tossing the noodles with the sauce just until the
noodles are coated with the meat sauce.
Serve the spaghetti with the extra sauce ladled over the top with grated
parmesan cheese.
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