Last week I was watching Top Chef All Stars and realized how much I love a good plate of spaghetti! They were cooking a traditional Italian meal in the kitchen of Rao’s in New York City. My granny’s kitchen is a long way from Rao’s but I swear her spaghetti and meatballs could go toe to toe with theirs any day.

Each year for my birthday, she would make my favorites, spaghetti and meatballs and a strawberry cake. We would spend hours in the kitchen perfecting those meatballs, letting them slowly simmer in a big pot of sauce and one thing that all good Southern and Italian cooks know is that food cooked with love is just – better food!

Recipe:

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup carrots, finely diced

1/2 cup onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb lean ground beef

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp half and half

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a large, heavy pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots cooking until tender. About 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add ground beef, season generously with salt and pepper and continue cooking until no longer pink.

Add broth, bring to a steady simmer, continue cooking until almost all of broth has cooked away. Stir in milk, simmer and let most of the liquid cook away. Then add crushed tomatoes, sugar and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Let sauce simmer for 30 minutes or so. Just before serving, stir in half and half.

Serve with pappardelle or your favorite pasta and a crisp green salad. Here’s a recipe for a quick creamy herb salad dressing perfect on a simple wedge of iceberg.

Creamy Herb Dressing

1/4 cup Fage 0% greek yogurt

1 tbsp light sour cream

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp basil, dried

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp oregano

salt and pepper

Whisk all ingredients together and chill before serving.

Notes:

Bolognese is a hearty meat sauce that is typically cooked for hours. This is a quicker version but the trick is to use good canned tomatoes. I prefer San Marzano tomatoes. I buy mine at The Fresh Market and they can be found in the italian specialty section at the grocery.

A heartier pasta works best with this sauce. I use pappardelle but a tubular pasta like penne or rigatoni would also work well.