Raise your hand if you love pasta. I see your hand way up there! I love pasta too!

OK, a family favorite recipe of ours is pasta with bolognese sauce. Normally I would make it with fresh tomatoes, but as you can see in these photos, I made it with tomato paste. The reason I made it with tomato paste is because during the lock-down we are trying to limit our trips outside of the house to the grocery store. We eat our fresh vegetables rights away, and then we rely on cans and frozen vegetables until our next trip to the store. The wonderful thing about Pasta with bolognese sauce is that you can freeze the ground beef when you buy it, and save it for a later date while substituting fresh tomatoes for tomato paste. This makes a meal which is delicious, and a treat, for days when supplies start to run low. This is a versatile dish!

We are a family of five who loves to eat pasta, so at some point I doubled the recipe to make loads of pasta. My kids always want leftovers of my pasta with bolognese sauce, so this recipe will serve a hungry family of five for both dinner, and lunch the next day. You may even get lucky with a few servings of leftovers after that. it warms up well in the microwave as a leftover, so indulge!

The ingredients are listed with both fresh and pantry options depending on what you have stored during the lock-down. Also, after the lock-down lifts, the pantry items are great in case you are missing a fresh ingredient, or were so busy you didn’t make it to the store. I am always switching it up depending on my schedule!

Pasta with bolognese sauce ingredients:

• 2 boxes of Barilla Mezzi Rigatoni pasta, equivalent to 2 lbs. of pasta. (This is our favorite shape for bolognese, but you can use your favorite if you have one)
• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• 1 can of tomato paste or  six fresh tomatoes chopped.
• 2 cups chicken broth or one can of chicken broth
• 1/4 cup olive oil.
• 2 chopped garlic cloves or 2 teaspoons chopped garlic from a jar such as Christopher Ranch
• 1 tablespoon of chopped basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon paprika from your spice rack
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano from your spice rack
• 1/4 cup chopped onions or 1 tablespoon dried chopped onions from the spice rack
• Shredded Parmesan cheese for use when serving

Now onto directions! Without further ado, here are the simple steps to making a yummy meal of pasta with bolognese sauce! Oh, and just in case you were wondering about my pasta credentials, I have 100% Italian heritage as my ancestors came to the United States from Genoa and Udine starting in the 1800’s. So I had plenty of pasta cooking education, and I have eaten my share of pasta throughout my life.

How to cook pasta with bolognese sauce

1. Fry the ground beef until it is well done
2. In a mixing bowl, mix together beef, tomatoes, chicken broth, basil, garlic, onions, oregano, paprika, and olive oil
3. Place sauce mixture in a large pot or saucepan and simmer on medium, covered.
4. Using a large pot, fill with water and bring water to a boil
5. Place pasta in boiling water, add a dab of olive oil to help keep pasta from sticking
6. When pasta is al dente, drain water and return to the post
7. Throw a dab of olive oil in the pot and stir to make sure pasta doesn’t stick.
8. Turn off your cook-top and throw the sauce in the pot with the pasta
9. Stir sauce and pasta together until all the pasta is covered
10. The sauce should stick to the pasta
11. Serve on dishes
12. Garnish with Parmesan cheese to taste
13. Eat and enjoy!

Want to enhance this meal? Serve with garlic bread, crustini, or sliced french bread. Yum!

When everyone is done getting seconds and thirds, store leftover pasta with bolognese sauce in the refrigerator to enjoy later.

Things you might need to make this recipe at home:

There you have it! My easy pasta with bolognese sauce recipe, you can make at home. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does 🙂

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Cathy