Have Some Ragu Pasta Sauce On
When I was a little girl, my mom would take me food shopping since I was the oldest child. We would go up and down the isles and I would be the one to get the groceries off the shelves and carefully place them in the carts. My parents were not rich so we ate a lot of pasta, and basic meals that would stretch out for our family of 7. I do have such fond memories of putting the Ragu and Prince Pasta in the cart each week. I always wondered why my mom would always buy the same brands every week, but as I grew older I started to learn why.
Ragu was a brand she trusted and one her mother had used. It was a staple of her childhood, and also mine. I can still smell the hamburger being fried up as she made her meat sauce. She would always let me have a piece of spaghetti while I watched. Now, my kids are watching me use Ragu to make new dishes that are much more different than the spaghetti my mom once made.
Recently, I took the time to read about the story behind Ragu. I was fascinated to learn that Ragu was made by an Italian immigrant named Assunta Cantisano. She migrated to New York with her Italian family, and soon thereafter started selling her homemade sauce to support her family during The Great Depression. Ragu has been in business since 1937 which says something about the quality of their Californian tomatoes, and recipe.
What Is A Good Recipe For Pasta Sauce
Directions Brown the ground beef,onion and garlic in olive oil with bay leaves,oregano,basil,Italian Seasoning,salt and pepper. Add tomato paste,tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir well and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Use sauce to top your cooked spaghetti. Top with sauteed mushroom.
How To Make Spaghetti With Tomato Sauce
Everything cooks in one pot for this easy spaghetti recipe! Thats why I love my 6 quart Dutch oven so much!
Why so much salt? Dont worry. You will not be eating 2.5 teaspoons of salt. Saltwater boils faster than unsalted water, it also adds a ton of flavor to the pasta and helps the pasta keep from clumping together.
- Cook spaghetti: Fill a large Dutch oven or pot with cold water 3/4 full and bring to a boil. Add 2 tsp salt and spaghetti. Separate pasta with tongs a few times during the first 2 minutes of cooking to ensure it does not stick. Keep cooking uncovered for 5 more minutes or until al dente, stirring occasionally.
Tips for cooking gluten-free spaghetti:
- It cooks a bit faster than wheat, so watch closely.
- It tends to stick stir often and rinse with cold water after draining.
- It makes the water murky during cooking which is OK.
- Drain pasta: Test the spaghetti for doneness towards the end by grabbing one strand onto a plate with tongs. Do not overcook until too soft. The key to tasty pasta is cooked pasta with a bite. Drain in a colander.
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How To Make Ragu Spaghetti Sauce
Heat your olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium heat. If using a grill this is 350 degrees F.
Add in the finely chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 5-8 minutes until soft. I like to use a food processor to chop up the veggies really small because they cook faster and are less noticeable to the picky eaters.
Add in your minced garlic and then stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add in the ground beef and cook until all of the pink is gone and the meat is browned. Remember to break it up into smaller pieces as you go. This should take about 10 minutes. Drain the grease and return to the stove.
Stir in the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
Add in the can of crushed tomatoes and chopped parsley. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for at least 15 minutes, preferably longer for deeper flavor.
Serve with cooked pasta and then top with parmesan cheese.
What To Do With Leftovers
When I make ragu, I usually make more than I need and freeze some for later. This is a great meal prep strategy as you can cook once but eat twice! I prefer to freeze this ragu without the cream and pesto. Sauces with cream dont freeze well. But, ragu can be frozen for up to 3 months. You can add the cream and pesto when you reheat the ragu.
Leftover sauce with cream and pesto can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days, as can the sauce mixed with pasta. I actually served this dish 2 days in a row because it was so good, we didnt mind eating it again the next day.
I did add a little more passata, cream and pesto when I reheated it in a skillet, as pasta with ragu tends to dry out a bit in the fridge. Alternatively, you can bake the leftovers with some mozzarella or grated Parmigiano on top!
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How To Get The Best Flavour
An important tip about making this classic recipe is to make sure you use equal amounts of beef and pork.
Beef is a lean meat whereas pork is much sweeter and fattier and adds a tonne of extra flavour to a ragu.
Trust me, when you try using 50% beef and pork instead of all beef you’ll notice a huge difference in flavour and that’s exactly how it’s made in Italy.
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The Difference Between Ragu And Bolognese
Ragu depending on where you are in the world is a meat-based sauce usually consisting of finely chopped vegetables, ground meat and cooked in a liquid such as wine, tomatoes or stock.
There are hundreds of different types of ragu all containing different meats or vegetables like our Venetian Duck Ragu and our Sausage Ragu which is super easy!
Bolognese on the other hand actually means something originating from Bologna, Emilia Romagna and their classic ragu alla bolognese has been a little lost in translation over the years.
It’s very similar to this one although is often made with white wine and sometimes milk which is thought to tenderise the meat.
It’s also traditionally served with tagliatelle pasta and never spaghetti which is why you’ll hear Italians say that Spaghetti Bolognese doesn’t exist.
How To Store Your Leftovers
Another great thing about this lasagna recipe is that it feeds a crowd and tastes great even the next day.
Just store leftovers in the fridge and theyll keep well for up to 5 days.
You can either cover the dish with plastic wrap or slice it into smaller pieces and transfer them into air-tight containers.
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What About The Pasta
My Easy Ragu Sauce is good over any kind of pasta youve got on hand spaghetti, fettucine, or even macaroni. It would also be a great sauce to use if youre making lasagna.
However, my new favorite way to serve Easy Ragu Sauce is over a plate of pre-made cheese ravioli. You can find some ready to go in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets. Frozen raviolis will work too. I like to keep a couple of bags in the freezer for dinnertime emergencies.
Just pop the raviolis into boiling water, cook, drain, and then top with a generous helping of Easy Ragu Sauce. In about thirty minutes, from start to finish, youll have a delicious dinner that tastes like Nonna spent all day in the kitchen!
Ready to give my Easy Ragu Sauce a try? Heres the recipe.
- 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped into medium-sized chunks
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How To Make Ragu Sauce
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What Type Of Meat Can You Use In Ragu Sauce
Read more: how to make a pasta sauce with cream cheese | Family Cuisine
My go to choice of meat to use in ragu sauce is ground beef. If you want a healthier version you can use ground turkey. Ill often swap out the ground turkey and whats even better my kids cant tell the difference. Like a little spice? Try Italian sausage.
Are Dried Or Fresh Herbs Better For Ragu Sauce
When you make sauces, stews, and anything else that requires a long cooking time, it is best to use dried herbs. Dried herbs are twice as potent as fresh, but it also takes longer for them to impart flavor into food. If you like fresh herbs, add them into the ragu sauce at the end of the cooking time.
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Doctored Up Spaghetti Sauce
Doctored up Spaghetti Sauce is something that I make almost every single week! It starts with any ol jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce and turns it into a hearty meat sauce and can be used in so many different recipes.
Everyone can admit that a red sauce is always better after it sits for a couple days. Using a jar of sauce just gives the meat sauce that simmered-all-day taste.
How Do You Make Spaghetti Sauce
Simple is the name of the game here. To make this spaghetti sauce, youll sauté chopped onion, minced garlic, lean ground beef, and classic Italian spices like dried oregano and red pepper flakes in a large skillet until the meat is browned and cooked through. Then youll pour in a large can of crushed tomatoes and let the mixture simmer gently while you cook the spaghetti.
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How To Store Leftover Beef Ragu
Like most stews or slow cooked sauces, they taste even better the next day because the flavours have had a long time to develop.
You can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. You may need to loosen it by adding a little water or stock when reheating and make sure its piping hot all the way through before serving.
You can also freeze this beef ragu, it freezes perfectly and its a great way for prepping ahead.
Just freeze in suitable containers then thaw completely before reheating.
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Homemade Ragu Sauce Recipe: How To Make It
My family loves homemade spaghetti sauce and this one is a big hit. I always make sure to serve this ragu sauce recipe with plenty of garlic bread. Kate Gaul, Dubuque, IA
Provided by Taste of Home
Total TimeCategoryCalories
- Stir diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste into the pan. Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer spaghetti sauce for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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Newmans Own Organics Marinara
Dont worry about the higher-than-average sugar content for a no-sugar-added sauce. The sugar comes from au-natural sources like tomatoes and pureed carrots. You wont be Googling how to get rid of bloating after this sauce. Even though they dont mention anything about low-sodium, this organic marinara is actually a great option for those looking to cut back on salt.
Let Me Know What You Think
As mentioned above we ate this creamy beef ragu 2 days in a row. It was that good. You may well want to do the same. If you have leftovers, of course!
If you make this Italian creamy beef ragu recipe, Id love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. So, please leave a comment here on the blog or on .
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Buon appetito!
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How To Make Meat Sauce In An Instant Pot
To make three-meat ragu sauce in your Instant Pot, youll first saute the meat mixture and onions. Be sure that the pot is hot before you add the oil, otherwise, youll end up steaming the meat instead of browning it. Once the oil starts to shimmer, go ahead and add your ingredients.
Cook the meat until it is browned and the onions are translucent. Be sure to drain off any fat before you add the remaining ingredients.
Best Pasta To Serve With Ragu
The question of what type of pasta to serve with different pasta sauces is a question that I get asked quite regularly. Generally, most pasta sauces will pair perfectly well with most common pasta types, like spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, penne / ziti, macaroni, shells etc.
And while this Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce will be great with any type of pasta, the best pasta for a rich sauce like this ragu is pappardelle. This wide, flat pasta is especially great for this recipe because the shredded beef clings to the wide strands.
For pappardelle, I am quite particular about which brand I use because Ive had problems in the past with uneven cooking. I use San Remo which is a well known trusted brand here in Australia. The pappardelle is bundled into nests so they are fully submerged when dropped into boiling water, and the nests are loose enough so the bubbling water separates the strands and the pappardelle cooks evenly.
Youll find San Remo pappardelle at all the major supermarkets as well as fresh produce stores and delis. And heres a photo for size context giant pasta in my Baby Hands..
Oh and the other reason San Remo Pappardelle is my pasta of choice for ragu is because its an egg pasta. The addition of egg makes the pappardelle stronger so it doesnt break when tossed in the thick, rich sauce.
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How To Serve Or Use Your Beef Ragu
With pasta I love to serve ragu with pappardelle pasta. I just love the pairing of hearty noodles with the hearty sauce. Tagliatelle or fettuccine would also be a good noodle to try.
Over polenta spoon the flavourful ragu over polenta.
In lasagna replace your usual ground beef meat sauce with this beef ragu for a hearty twist.
Make an Italian-style Shepherds Pie again, replace the typical ground beef filling of Shepherds pie with beef ragù. Top with Parmesan-flavoured mashed potatoes and bake!
Tips For Best Results
- To keep spaghetti whole: Hold a bundle of spaghetti for 20 seconds when you first add it to the pot with boiling water, then push in the rest as the submerged portion of pasta softens.
- Cook to al dente: No one wants mushy pasta!
- Salt the water: For flavor and nonstick results.
- Customize: Adjust to whatever flavours or add-ins you like.
- Serve immediately: But also enjoy leftovers the next day!
- Cooking garlic: turn off the heat before adding it and it will cook with residual heat rather than burning.
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Dried Herbs And Spices
The second big thing I noticed is that the vegetables and spices in the sauce were all dried including things like the onion. This made a difference to the mouth feel of the sauce. Unlike fresh onions, which become very soft after a long simmer, the dried onions in the Ragu had a toothsome quality even after whatever processing the commercial sauce underwent.
