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    Home ยป Recipes ยป Main

    Published: Oct 7, 2014 ยท Modified: May 12, 2020 by Bita Cyrus ยท 7 Comments

    Spaghetti with Beef Marinara

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    Clearly this girl loves her pasta, yeah? I really, really do.

    Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    I know Iโ€™ve posted a lot of pasta dishes since starting this blog. And itโ€™s because I eat a lot of pasta dishes! And to all those people who ban pasta (of all sorts) from their bellies, Iโ€™ll pick up the slack. I got it. Donโ€™t you worry โ€˜bout nothinโ€™.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    I love a big bowl of satisfyingly hearty pasta as much as the next---if not more. So Iโ€™m really happy to share with you my favorite pasta dish of all time. This is what I tend to simply call โ€œspaghettiโ€ at home and I bet many of you do the same when youโ€™re in fact referring to some type of meat ragu atop a healthy bowl of pasta. But since technically โ€œspaghettiโ€ refers to that cylindrical pasta shape with which weโ€™re all most familiar, let me be clear and call this dish what it really is---spaghetti with beef marinara. You know, just in case you didnโ€™t read the title of this blog post before arriving at this point in the post.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    Now weโ€™ll go off on a bit of a tangent but trust that weโ€™ll very soon arrive back to where we began.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    So this blog is a place where I can organize a collection of thoughts, photographs, and recipes for my favorite foods, truly of all time. And these perhaps one day may serve as an index for my family, hopefully one day, children and grandchildren to refer to so that they can have a good foundation of recipes from which to take not only said recipes, but also a bite of their culture, some inspiration for their own dishes, lots of love, and most importantly, health.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    Stepping out of my motherโ€™s kitchen, sheโ€™s provided me with all of that. All the Persian dishes I make, theyโ€™ve sprouted from within her kitchen. This blog is my way of preserving her amazingly delicious and healthy Persian dishes as the origin of my own food journey, and adding to that my food and cooking experiences as a Persian girl, but born and raised in California.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    So this leads me back to my spaghetti dish. This is full-flavored food-love right here. If you are a first-generation Persian-American like myself, your mother might cook her spaghetti the way she cooks her Persian rice. And with that, you get spaghetti tahdig to boot---crispy rice at the bottom of the pot, and in this instance, crispy spaghetti at the bottom of the pot. I love that she does it and itโ€™s actually quite tasty like that, but for pasta, in my own kitchen I prefer to make it Italian-style. Thatโ€™s the beauty of being a first-generation Persian in the States. Iโ€™m lucky enough to have my strong and vibrant Persian roots running through my veins, but theyโ€™re intertwined with the bountiful cultural surroundings I experience as an American. Of course, the foods I cook at home are a direct product of who I am---and thatโ€™s all of the above. And I love that.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    As for this dish right here, itโ€™s all heart with a touch of happy belly, no matter where it came from. And I love that too.

    ย Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    I hope you love this dish and donโ€™t worry much about sticking to the amounts in the recipe. Like most of my recipes, just go for what tastes good to you and as always, err on the side of more. Enjoy it!

    Spaghetti with Beef and Marinara

    Recipe

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    Spaghetti with Beef Marinara

    Course Main
    Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time 25 minutes minutes
    Servings 6
    Calories 519kcal
    Author Honest and Tasty

    Ingredients

    • 1 lb lean ground beef
    • 1 large onion grated
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon onion powder
    • 2 teaspoon turmeric powder
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • ยฝ teaspoon red chili flakes or to taste
    • 1 tablespoon dried basil
    • Plenty of sea salt and black pepper or to taste
    • 1 whole head of garlic all cloves peeled and chopped into large chunks
    • 6 oz tomato paste 1 small can
    • 32 oz your favorite marinara sauce 1 jar
    • 16 oz dried spaghetti 1 package
    • Grated/shaved parmesan cheese to taste for topping off your bowl
    • 1 bunch fresh basil leaves ripped into large pieces to top off your bowl

    Instructions

    For the Beef Marinara:

      In a large nonstick pan with the heat off, combine beef, grated onion, garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric powder, paprika, red chili flakes, dried basil, black pepper, and plenty of salt (or to taste). Once all these ingredients are fully incorporated, turn burner heat to โ€˜highโ€™. Using a spatula, break up the beef, mix it around every so often, and allow it to cook until the beef has browned and all the liquid has evaporated. Add the chopped garlic and saute the beef for a minute or two by mixing it around the pan with your spatula. Add all the tomato paste and mix around to combine. Saute for another minute. Then add in all the pasta sauce and stir to combine. Turn the burner down to medium-low to simmer.

        For the Pasta:

          Boil a large pot of water on high. Once boiling, add a hefty amount of salt (this is where the pasta can obtain flavor). Stir around salt and add pasta. Stir around pasta and cook until al dente (approximately 7 min). Donโ€™t overcook. Pasta should have a nice bite to it. Once cooked, turn off the heat, drain the pasta and serve in bowls with beef marinara on top. Finish off with fresh basil and parmesan. Add extra chili flakes to your bowl if you want more heat. Enjoy!

            Nutrition

            Calories: 519kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 1076mg | Potassium: 1257mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 1396IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 79mg | Iron: 6mg

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            Reader Interactions

            Comments

            1. Marinara Poppins says

              October 09, 2014 at 5:51 pm

              5 stars
              Oh boy, that looks super good. I want to try one with turmeric and paprika... sounds (and looks) great! A splish-splosh of Chianti at the simmer makes the marinara sing, if you like that kind of thing.

              Reply
              • honestandtasty says

                October 09, 2014 at 7:51 pm

                Honestly, it even tastes better than it looks, this one. I add turmeric to meat pretty much 100% of the time I cook it. It's an essential for me :). Thanks for your suggestion too! I love your name btw. Your parents were so clever in their naming you ๐Ÿ˜‰

                Reply
            2. Chiemi says

              December 07, 2014 at 11:21 pm

              5 stars
              I made this the other night and it was really delicious and satisfying, and easy too! It was actually my first time cooking with turmeric believe it or not, but it was a nice savoury addition to the sauce.

              Reply
              • honestandtasty says

                December 08, 2014 at 12:59 pm

                Woohoo! I'm so happy to hear that you tried it out and loved it! If I had to keep one spice other than salt and pepper, definitely it'd be turmeric. I cannot live without it! I love that you used it and enjoyed it! And thanks so much for dropping a comment because it makes me so happy to hear when a reader tries out one of my recipes and likes it! You made my day, Chiemi! ๐Ÿ™‚

                Reply
            3. Cooking with Osiris says

              June 22, 2016 at 10:11 am

              I just found your post. What's funny is I'm American without any Persian ancestry but make my spaghetti similar to your mom. After draining the pasta, I put it back in the pot to brown and crisp up the pasta. I didn't know that was a thing elsewhere.

              Reply
              • honestandtasty says

                June 28, 2016 at 2:02 pm

                That's hilarious! I love it! Do you put some olive oil at the bottom of the pot to crisp it up too? Thanks for sharing that with me! I'll have to let my mom know ๐Ÿ˜‰

                Reply
            4. Isabelle Smith says

              February 03, 2021 at 2:19 pm

              5 stars
              This was delicious! Quick q... Your nutritional information, that's for the whole recipe? How would one break it down to one portion? Thank you!

              Reply

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