Karl Katzke

Kottke talked today about a video on Serious Eats featuring Mario Batali on How to Sauce Pasta.

I disagree that this is the only way to sauce pasta, though. The sauce depends on the goal of the sauce. In the case of Mario’s sauce, it’s to feature and accent the pasta. But there’s some sauces, like my family’s spaghetti sauce, that could be featured by themselves and stand up on their own merits — and the pasta simply serves as a base, much like a rice or couscous bed would.

Katzke Family Meat Sauce

1 lbs. ground Turkey
1/2 a yellow/sweet onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 8 oz can Hunt’s Tomato Sauce
1 6 oz can Hunt’s Tomato Paste
2 t sugar
1t garlic powder, onion powder, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Italian Seasoning
1/2 t Lawry’s Seasoned Pepper Blend
1/4 t cinnamon, paprika, ground red pepper, chili powder
1 dash (~ 1/2 t) Worcestershire sauce, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, vinegar (white or balsamic)
(Note the casing of T - Tablespoon, and t - Teaspoon.)

Crush or finely mince the garlic. Chop the onion. Mix the chopped onion, garlic, and meat together in a large frying or sauté pan with a lid and brown the meat, breaking large clumps down into smaller clumps as you cook. The benefit of using Turkey is that there should be no grease to drain. When the onions are translucent and the meat is brown, add the sauce and paste and about 1/2 of each can of water. Bring to a boil.

Add the remaining ingredients individually (Not necessarily for flavor, but for fun — the character and even the color of the sauce changes with each ingredient.) Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil. Stir again and reduce the heat to it’s lowest setting — Keep it covered, stir every fifteen minutes. Cook down for an hour to an hour and a half.

We use the thinnest spaghetti noodles we can find, usually thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta. Serve the sauce on a bed of cooked pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese.