One of the most classic college dishes out there is pasta with meat sauce.
It’s quick, it’s easy, and it even fed a ravenous group of about 20 student journalists at a recent Daily Bruin retreat ““ and it only took about 45 minutes to make four times the recipe I’m giving you now.
Start off by putting a large pot on the stove and bringing the water to a boil ““ putting the lid on the pan traps the heat making the water boil much faster.
While that gets going, finely chop about half of a white onion. If you take a knife and peel off the excess skin on the onion by carefully rubbing the blade across the top, the onion will release much less of the chemical that makes you cry when you cut into it.
Over medium-low heat drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil into a large, deep pan and throw in the onions. They will take several minutes to soften up and eventually caramelize.
Mince two cloves of garlic (or to your taste) and add it to the onions.
You have to be very careful when cooking garlic because it burns easily, and burnt garlic is one of the worst things that can happen to a dish ““ other than the whole thing catching on fire, which has happened to me several times.
By now the water should be boiling, so add in about 14-16 ounces of pasta.
I use fusilli, because I think the curls in the pasta catch the meat sauce better, but regular spaghetti will also work.
Directly after you add the pasta, throw in a generous amount of salt and stir immediately, and continue to stir every few minutes until it is done.
Back to the pan, once the onions become a bit translucent and soft, add in about a pound of ground beef.
You want the leanest meat you can find because the rendered beef fat that seeps out when the meat is cooking can be unappetizing in this dish. I bought 93 percent lean meat which worked very well.
Once you add the beef, toss in a generous amount of salt and pepper, then a dash of cumin to give the meat a little southwest flair (don’t worry, it won’t taste like a taco) and crank up the heat to medium-high.
There isn’t really a set time you need for this meat to cook, but it will lose quite a bit of volume, and you want to cut the heat about a minute before it’s fully done ““ you’ll know because the texture of the meat changes significantly.
Once the meat is almost done, the pasta should be finishing up too.
You want the pasta to have a bit of a bite to it when you pull it out because you will cook it a bit more later.
A rule of thumb ““ if you toss the pasta at the fridge and it sticks, your roommate will be mad at you for making a mess, and you will know you have overcooked your pasta.
Drain the pasta and set it aside.
Now add in a full, large can of your favorite pasta sauce to your beef mixture. I like classic marinara, but you can use whatever you want.
Mix the sauce and the meat until they are well combined. Taste the sauce; if it needs salt, add some.
About a minute after the sauce starts to boil, add in the pasta you set aside and gently mix them together.
Turn the heat to simmer and let it sit for about a minute to let the flavors combine, then turn the heat off.
Put everything in a large bowl and top the dish off with a heap of Parmesan cheese.
This should serve three to four people (or about 20 coworkers), or you can just eat until you’re full and save the rest for tomorrow.
If you’ve ever cooked for a group of loud, picky eaters e-mail Pesce at apesce@media.ucla.edu.