Oh yes there are fancy versions of this. I don’t make those. This, plus a garden salad, is my go to recipe when I have not planned dinner and think that one more decision may actually cause my head to explode. If you have an onion or mushroom or green pepper to use up add it to the meat. Otherwise…no worries. Also I often make 2x as much sauce as I need and then freeze it in the jar for use when I really really don’t even have time for this. If you are planning a winter dinner party with lots of kids, make the sauce in bulk and start boiling the pasta when your guests arrive.

Ingredients
1 Jar organic gluten free pasta sauce (I use Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 lb Tinkyada Spaghetti (yes, it has to be Tinkyada)
1 lb ground beef, pork, turkey or lamb
Minced random veggies that you need to use up (bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, eggplant or carrots)

Equipment
Large pot for boiling pasta
Pan for cooking ground meat and heating sauce
2 wooden spoons
1 large ladle
Colander for draining pasta
Cutting board and paring knife for chopping veggies (if using)

Instructions
Put cold (or even still frozen) ground beef / pork / turkey / lamb / sausage in pan on stove
Turn on heat to medium low.
Mash meat occasionally with a wooden spoon until it is all cooked and in little meat crumbs
If you are using up any leftover peppers, mushrooms or onions, cut them up now and add them to the meat crumb mix and cook slowly until onions are clear, mushrooms are soft and peppers are tender.
Fill pot with cold filtered water
Put pot on large burner to boil.
Add pasta to boiling water. Stir a few times to avoid clumping. Cook according to package instructions (note – this ONLY works with Tinkyada pasta. Other brands require a lot of attention or else they turn into weird gluey inedible ick. I have no idea why this is true).

Check pasta for doneness after 8 minutes. Just pull out a strand, let it cool a moment and bite it. Once it is done, dump the it in the colander. Rinse. Put back in pot.
Add jar sauce to meat pan and warm quickly
Put meat sauce in the pasta pot one ladleful at a time. Mix after each addition. Stop when it looks good to you.
Serve
Save leftover sauce in jar.