Recipe passed on from my Italian grandfather. The ultimate comfort food. Leftovers freeze nicely! To make this recipe more authentic, you can use a mixture of ground veal, pork, and beef. You can also substitute the balsamic vinegar for 1/2 cup of red wine.
Ingredients
- spaghetti: 1 pack (16 ounce pack)
- olive oil: 2 Tbsp
- slices bacon: 3 piece (diced)
- onion: 1 piece (chopped)
- stalk celery: 1 piece (chopped)
- carrot: 1 piece (chopped)
- oregano: 1 tsp (dried)
- garlic: 3 clove (minced)
- lean ground beef: 1 pound
- balsamic vinegar: 2 Tbsp
- tomatoes: 2 cans (28 ounce cans, crushed)
- tomato paste: 2 Tbsp
- white sugar: 2 tsp
- salt and ground black pepper: (to taste)
- fresh basil: 2 Tbsp (chopped)
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese: 0.25 cup
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until cooked through yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes; drain.
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Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon in the oil until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the onion, celery, carrot, and oregano into the bacon; continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften, another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Crumble the ground beef into the vegetable mixture; cook and stir until the beef is completely cooked and no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes.
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Pour the balsamic vinegar over the ground beef mixture; allow to simmer until the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar into the ground beef mixture; bring the mixture to a boil, season with salt and black pepper, and remove from heat. Stir the fresh basil into the mixture.
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Ladle the sauce over the cooked spaghetti. Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.
