With not much time to spare – I still have to pack my suitcase for a week of business meetings in Las Vegas and Dallas – I am in need of another fast but delicious dinner – Spaghetti Bolognese comes to mind.

This is another one of my mums recipes, she very much cooks “Hausmannskost” (homey comfort meals) and this one definitely counts as Hausmannskost! Just what you want prior to going on a week long trip with either very little food because all the big companies are saving money wherever they can and all they serve are a few appetizers or you get lucky and get invited to a fancy steak dinner, which is very nice and expensive but I am a steak snob thanks to Mike and now I don’t like to eat bloody raw steaks anymore in fancy restaurants and think its great (yep that was me thinking the chef’s must know and if they think steak needs to be eaten bloody then I thought that’s the way it should be). It seems like that all the steakhouses are against us medium to well steak eaters and serve it bloody raw or charcoaled, there doesn’t seem to be an in-between for the steak chefs in this world.

I am looking forward though to one dinner in particular in Las Vegas and that is outside of the business frenzy, a dinner I will have with my friend Christy at Joel Rouchon who was named the Chef of the Century! We already know it will also be the bill of the century but this is a one in a lifetime opportunity to dine at a Michelin Star chef restaurant! I already know what I would like to eat for an appetizer, almost the exact same “food” that I was condemning in the paragraph prior – raw meat, yes I would like Tartar as an appetizer. But believe me there is a difference between bloody wobbly steak and raw ground up filet mignon with spices on thick fresh baked bread and a glass of vodka on the side! From what I understand do most Americans not like raw meat, but I grew up with it and approximately 2x a year I get this urge for Tartar that no other food and satsify. I would say Tartar is the German Sushi, it definitely is a delicatesse and usually only gets served in very fine restaurants or strangely enough in German breweries which serve the opposite of fine dining food. I can’t wait to actually eat at Joel Robuchon’s  and will report on my fine dining experience next week!

Back to completely cooked food –  the Spaghetti recipe. You can add more onions, carrots, tomatoes and celery to the recipe if you like, but I skip all the chopping and having to wait for it all to cook down and just go with this simple but yet tasty version:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion – diced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 cups of beef broth
• 1 – 2 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2  teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (or if you don’t have it, some oregano will do)
• Parmesan
• optional 1/2 – 1 jar of Ragu sauce (I use the one with “Meat flavor)
• optional pepperoncini’s
• optional Garlic bread

Recipe:

1. Heat up the olive oil to medium heat and cook the onions until they take on a yellowish/translucent color – 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and brown for 1 minute.
2. Add the meat, stir well and brown the meat on high heat, stirring in between so that the onions and garlic doesn’t burn – 5 minutes
3. Add the beef broth, tomato paste and all the seasonings, stir and cover. Let the mixture simmer on low for 30-60 minutes. Check on the mixture once in a while and stir so that nothing burns on the bottom and if you like it more saucy add more water – or you can also add 1/2 – 1 a jar of Ragu sauce to thicken the sauce and if you would prefer more a tomato taste.
4. Taste the sauce just before done and add additional salt, pepper or paprika to your liking.
5. Serve over pasta with fresh Parmesan on top, a few pepperoncini’s and some garlic bread on the side! For home made garlic bread take a look at my post here.

Guten Appetit!