Meat Sauce with Garlic and Oregano

This pasta meat sauce is officially my favourite sauce to go on pasta! Around here, we are definitely a family that prefers the typical meaty red sauce on our pasta (except for the occasional indulgence of fettucine alfredo at a restaurant!)... and I have to say that up until about a month ago, I thought my go-to pasta sauce was one of the best ones I've had. That is, until I had this one. Oh my goodness did I ever love it! I was visiting my sister and her husband this summer, and she made this for us all one night for dinner. My sister is so amazing, and always makes such delicious meals... so inspiring! I think she gets her talent from the two fantastic cooks in our family: her husband is a talented and well known chef in their community, and our dad (who did all the cooking growing up) is also an excellent cook. Well, they've taught her well. This recipe is her recipe that her and her husband have come up with, and so I've tried to recreate it with her help! Her best words of advice on this is to season it to your taste... want more garlic? Add more... more oregano? ditto.

We served ours for dinner with freshly made garlic bread. Mmmm... I can smell the garlic now!

Meat Sauce with Garlic and Oregano

Serves 4

Source: Lauren!

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

3/4 of a 796mL can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 of a 6oz can tomato paste

1 Tbsp sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Linguine or other pasta of your choice, cooked

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in pan, and cook onions until almost tender (about 5 minutes). Add garlic, and cook for another 60 seconds.

3. Add ground beef to the onion and garlic mixture, and brown meat until it is thoroughly cooked.

4. Once meat is cooked, add the tomato paste, and stir it into the meat mixture, cooking it for about 60 seconds. Then, add diced tomatoes, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper to the meat mixture, and simmer until the sauce becomes thick and most of the juices from the diced tomatoes are reduced - at least 20 minutes.

5. Once sauce is ready, stir in another small handful of fresh oregano, remove from heat and drizzle about 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil into the sauce and stir. Drain the pasta (don't rinse it!); Toss with meat sauce and serve!