I had taken onepound of ground beef from the freezer and defrosted it for…some reason that was not clear after it was thawed. Since it was thoroughly thawed, I figured cooking it and making a new plan was the best option.
I had some events coming up that would require quick evening meals, so it seemed to be a good option over noodles or rice or put into tortillas. I had browned the beef with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and Penzey’s Pasta Sprinkle (which is, essentially, Italian seasoning).
When I came across this one-pot spaghetti with meat sauce recipe, it presented a perfect use for my hastily cooked ground beef. I started out a little skeptical, but it came out pretty well. It wasn’t perfect, but I’ll give a TC as a good shortcut, on-the-fly meal.
Since the meat was pre-cooked, most of the fat had been drained off. There was a little fat still clinging to the cooked meat, which was plenty for the one-pot meal. I only added a small drizzle of EVOO at the end, about one quick pass over each plate.
While the liquid was not all absorbed when the spaghetti was dished out, it had been absorbed by the time the meal was over and it was time to pack leftovers away. Perhaps letting this sit for five or so minutes before dishing it out is a good way to go if you don’t want excess liquid.
I only had a one-quart box of vegetable stock, so I supplemented with one cup of water, which worked fine. The amount of marinara needed was about one 28-oz. jar of Rao’s, which is good to know for next time, so I don’t have to measure it out again!
We had this with a Caprese salad, which also had some sliced artisan salami on it.
