MOM'S IRISH SPAGHETTI

My Mother Lois, called her stove top sauce (just beef,onion and jarred sauce)“Irish Spaghetti”. It wasn’t bad, but like all my recipes; this vast improvement over her half an effort was sought out in self defense! This one cooks in under an hour.

ingredients

4 oz. white mushrooms, trimmed
1 yellow onion, diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Lb. 80% lean ground beef
1 slice good quality white bread
2 Tbsp. milk
fresh oregano, chopped
red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
6 cloves garlic, minced
14 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (reserve 1/4 cup of juice)
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper, to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
ziti or rigatoni, prepared, reserve 1/4 cup of cooked pasta water to thin sauce, if needed

directions

1
Process mushrooms in a processor until chopped very fine.
2
In a deep sauce pot cook mushrooms and onion in oil until very deep brown; about 6-12 minutes.In processor, create a panade with bread and milk, process until smooth, then pulse in meat until incorporated. In pan, add spices and tomato paste to mushroom mixture and cook 1 minute. Deglaze pan with reserved tomato juice and scrape up brown bits. Add meat and cook gently for a few minutes until no longer pink (do not brown), then add tomatoes and simmer 30 minutes. Thin sauce with reserved pasta water if needed and toss with pasta and serve with cheese.

Source: Cynthia Chazen, Swedish Irish fake Italian!