Tomato Sauce with Meat

It's the second day of "spring" and what do you know? It's snowing! On days like today, I feel like something hearty so I decided to make pasta for dinner. I have a gazillion cans of tomato paste in my cupboard (thanks Sam's Club) that I hardly ever use so I decided to make some pasta sauce.

Here is what you will need.

First chop up your onion and bell pepper. Then saute them with a little olive oil and garlic. I love this smell!

In a separate pan on medium heat, put in a tablespoon of olive oil and add your can of tomato paste. Next, fill your empty tomato paste can up with chicken broth and dump it into your pan. Do this twice. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and basil. Stir it together. If you want a spicy or "arrabbiata" sauce, go ahead and and about a teaspoon of red pepper flakes as well.

Once the onion, bell pepper, and garlic are softened, add about half them to your tomato sauce. Leave the rest in your pan and add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.

Once meat is browned, add this to your tomato sauce. Stir and taste. You may need to add a few spices depending on your taste. If not, you are ready to eat! I let mine simmer for about an hour so you can do that as well if you aren't in a hurry to eat. Letting it simmer brings all the flavors together.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 green bell pepper
1/4 medium onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 6 oz can tomato paste
12 oz chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons of Trader Joe's frozen chopped basil cubes
1/2 lb ground beef

Summary:
Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in pan on medium heat. Add tomato paste, chicken broth, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and basil and mix together. In another pan on medium-high heat put 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Once they are soft, add half of them to your tomato sauce mix and stir in. In the pan with the bell peppers, add your ground beef and cook until no longer pink then add to tomato sauce. Let simmer for about an hour. Enjoy!

With love!