Pasta with Meat Sauce

First of all... this is me right now:

Coffee shop <3

If you can think of a better way to cure a hangover than pasta with meat sauce, I'd love to hear about it...

As you can see, the proper ratio of sauce to pasta is 4:1

The trouble is, a classic Bolognese ragu will run you around 3-4 hours... and it won't be exactly what you're expecting. Why? Because it contains like 1/2 a tomato! There are also no herbs, no garlic. Clearly this wasn't a recipe invented by an American.

In fact... did you know that there were actually no tomatoes in Italy until long after tomatoes were introduced to Spain, which happened of course after the discovery of... you guessed it. The Americas! Peep this: "In fact, in 1544, the Italian herbalist Pietro Matthioli, classified the tomato plant along with other poisonous plants." (Source!) This bit of information certainly squashes just about everything I ever thought I knew about Italian cuisine. So there... Olive Garden, I'm talking to you.

But anywho, as an American and a lover of all things tomato sauce, I will still argue that meat sauce is one of the best ways to cure a hangover. Besides a couple bacon Bloody Marys and this breakfast pizza, of course. The best news? This sauce freezes well and you can defrost and use as needed. Because the hungover American doesn't want to cook.

PS Don't let me convince you this sauce isn't delicious even when you're not hungover too. It pretty much rules all the time.

Soundtrack: In honor of this weekend:

Can You Keep a Secret by BrothersPast
Heroes by BrothersPast
Bitches and Candy by BrothersPast

Pasta with Meat Sauce
Serves 4


EVOO (also a term that would probably make a few genuine Italians roll in their graves)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (I used 90-10 and it worked out swell)
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4-1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes (to taste)
salt and pepper


Heat EVOO over med heat in a stock pot or large sauce pot. Saute onions, peppers, and garlic for 1-2 minutes, just until aromatic. Add ground beef and cook until browned.


Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sugar, basil, oregano, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for at least 40 minutes, max 1-2 hours. Season again to taste with salt and pepper.


Serve over pasta.