Bolognese Marinara Spaghetti

I went out on a lim tonight and made a new type of spaghetti sauce. I usually cheat and use a can of marinara, add garlic and onions to spice it up and add meat.... this new recipe turned out to be WAY better. Experimenting can be rewarding (although not always)!

1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes (plain or italian style)
1 cup of water
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp oregano
additional 1/2 tsp salt

With a tbsp of olive oil, saute onions and garlic on medium heat until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Mix in beef with onion and garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Break up the meat into small pieces while you saute. When the meat is half way done cooking add the remaining ingredients in the order listed, including the additional salt. Mix together, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. At this point you have a few choices. If you have the time, cook this for a few hours on low stirring occasionally with the pot mostly covered by the lid. If you want to eat right away, cook on med-low for at least 40 minutes with the lid off. You want to see the sauce thickening around the meat before you eat it. If it is too runny and you are starving then add a little tomato paste to thicken the sauce.

Serve over spaghetti

Bon Appetit!