Pasta with Weeknight Meat Sauce from the ATK How Can It Be Gluten Free is not quite actually a weeknight meal – it takes 45-60 minutes to prepare. Weeknight, to me, says 30-40 minutes for a meal; you might be different, I don’t know.
But this is yummy and it saves into convenient leftovers to take for lunches. So it gets made on the weekends, or on nights when we have time for that kind of thing.
1lb ground beef
2T water
0.5t baking soda
4oz white mushrooms, halved or quartered
1T olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, minced
1T tomato paste
2t minced fresh oregano (can sub 1t dried)
0.125t red pepper flakes
1-28oz can tomato puree
1-14.5oz can petit diced tomatoes
0.25c parmesan cheese
12 oz gluten-free penne
- Toss beef with water, 1t salt, 0.25t pepper, and baking soda in bowl until thoroughly combined. Let sit for 20 minutes.
- Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add mushrooms and onions and cook until vegetables are softened & well-browned, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in garlic, tomato paste, oregano & red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Stir in tomato puree, diced tomatoes, 0.5t salt, 0.5t pepper, and bring to gentle simmer. Add beef mixture and cook, breaking up meat, until cooked through and sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in Parmesan.
- Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Add pasta & 1T salt to pan. Cook till done. Reserve 0.5c cooking water. then drain pasta & return to pot. Add sauce and toss to combine. Slowly add water as needed for consistency. Serve.