Want to make something extra delicious for dinner this week? Check out our favorite recipe for rigatoni with a spicy beef ragu sauce!
This spicy beef ragu is super easy to adjust if you’ve got younger peeps joining you for dinner… just leave out the chili flakes.
Pasta is a weeknight dinner staple. It requires minimal ingredients, it’s a breeze to make, and it feeds a crowd.
This spicy meat ragu is a very substantial sauce that requires a strong pasta. I would not suggest serving this with angel hair pasta. If you don’t have rigatoni, pappardelle or fettuccine is also great.
Although I like my sauce spicy, not everyone agrees with me. If you’d like to make this sauce more kid-friendly, or you want it mild- simply reduce the amount of red pepper flakes or omit it altogether.
Ever make a meat-tomato sauce that ends up separating? Yes, it happens to all of us one time or another. To prevent such mishaps, I have learned to make a bread mixture that helps keep the sauce together. Mushrooms provide a nice meaty flavor when cooked and when mixed with the bread and milk paste, it helps to thicken the sauce while also acting as a stabilizer.
Forget the pre-made, bottled pasta sauce. Tonight, make something special! (Don’t forget about dessert! This slow-cooker creme brûlée will knocks your socks off!)
- 5 oz button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 slice white bread
- 2 Tbsp 2% milk
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 7 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound 85% lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1-14.5 oz can diced tomato*, drained
- 1- 28 oz can crushed tomato*
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 pounds rigatoni pasta, cooked al dente according to package instructions
- In a food processor, pulse mushroom until fine. Add torn bread slice and milk. Process until mixture it is paste-like. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat olive oil. Once oil is warm, add garlic and onions. Cook over medium heat unit garlic is fragrant and onions are almost translucent.
- Add mushroom paste mixture. Stir to combine and cook for about 3-5 minutes until mushroom is cooked.
- Add ground meat in chunks and stir to combine. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and tomato paste. Stir to distribute.
- Continue to cook until meat has browned. Then add diced tomato and crushed tomato. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover pot and allow sauce to simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Check on sauce every 7 minutes or so to stir contents.
- Taste sauce and season accordingly with more salt as needed.
- Serve sauce warm over freshly cooked pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese and additional red pepper flakes for extra spice.
- * I prefer to use no-salt added tomatoes so I can be in control of the amount of salt.
- This recipe makes about 8-10 servings of sauce. Freeze any leftovers and use within the month. Simply reheat and use as usual.
