One of my favorite dinners to make for the fam is spaghetti.  I can literally have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes, and it’s one of everyone’s favorite things to eat thanks to this incredible, easy sauce recipe that actually starts with a jar of store bought pasta sauce that gets incredibly doctored up.  If you aren’t a spaghetti fan, you need to try this, because I will not order spaghetti at any restaurant due to bland, overly acidic, tasteless sauces, but I literally can’t stop eating this.

One of the secrets to this delicious sauce is just a little cinnamon and sugar.  Those sweet notes pair perfectly with the sweet tomatoes and just make this such a comfort meal.  Just boil some noodles, throw some garlic bread in the oven, make a side salad, and enjoy this cozy, flavorful, but really quick dinner any night of the week!

A couple of tips for this recipe:

• You can substitute a can of tomato sauce for the tomato basil pasta sauce if you want to make it totally from scratch, but I’m telling you – beginning with the tomato basil pasta sauce is one of the best hacks to get maximum flavor.  I use store brand – Great Value Tomato Basil pasta sauce.  If you do use a can of tomato sauce, add 3 Tbsp of concentrated tomato paste (in a tube) to give more depth and increase the simmering time to 25 minutes.
• If you don’t have the Umami seasoning (mushroom powder seasoning) you can skip it, but I love the extra boost of earthiness it gives the sauce. It’s a great seasoning to have in your pantry and I get mine at Trader Joes. (There are also different brands of this seasoning now in most stores – just look for mushroom or umami seasoning.
• You don’t have to use all the pasta water – just add enough to get the sauce to the consistency you want it.  Do use at least a couple of tablespoons because it helps the pasta sauce stick to the noodles better – that starchy water is gold when it comes to pasta sauces!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp Mushroom Umami Seasoning Blend – OPTIONAL
• 28oz jar of store bought tomato basil pasta sauce
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water
• 16oz spaghetti or linguine noodles, prepared as directed on package

Instructions:

1. Place the ground beef in a large hot skillet and sprinkle over the salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian seasoning, basil, red pepper flakes and optional mushroom umami seasoning blend.
2. Crush everything together (I use a ground meat chopper) while browning and allow the meat to get a little crispy.  Add the jar of tomato basil pasta sauce and stir.  Add the sugar, and cinnamon, bring to a light boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.
3. While the sauce is simmering, prepare your spaghetti noodles according to package directions.  Serve the sauce over the top of the noodles and garnish with your favorite grated cheese (fresh parm is fantastic), and chopped parsley or basil if you like.