If “quasi-goulash” were a thing, you would be reading a post about it now.  But it is not; I just made that up. So instead, you are reading a post about a dish that started as a cross between marinara and Bolognese sauce. Call it what you will – I call it “delicious” (well, I call it “meat sauce”), and cannot make it too frequently, or else it would be all I eat.

Ingredients:

– ½ – 1 lb lean ground beef (or turkey or bison)
– 1 sweet onion, diced
– 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
– 3 oz tomato paste
– 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 oz) (or 1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes and 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes)
– ½ t Worcestershire sauce
– 2 t dried oregano
– 1 t dried basil
– ¼ t red pepper flakes
– ½ t sugar

How do I make it?

• Heat a dutch oven or large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the ground beef. As you break it up with a wooden spoon and it starts to brown, add the onion and garlic. You shouldn’t need any oil because the fat from the lean meat should be just enough, without making it too greasy. Cook until the meat is no longer pink.
• Add the tomato paste, and stir to coat the meat and onions.
• Add the crushed tomatoes, and stir to hydrate and distribute the tomato paste.
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, the oregano and basil (crush them in your hand as you add them), red pepper flakes, and sugar.
• Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Here, I topped roasted spaghetti squash with the sauce – you can of course use pasta, or, if you are like me, just a fork.