Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce

I ran a local 5K today. I knew was going to need some extra fuel for the run, so I decided to make pasta (yay! for carbs!!) for dinner last night. I found this bolognese sauce by Giada and added that to thin spaghetti. It was simple and tasty. My husband and daughter especially liked it.

I did add a little bit of sugar to the sauce though b/c it was tasting a little too acidic to me after pouring in the crushed tomatoes. I also added a little dry oregano, just because I like a little dry oregano in my pasta sauce :) Overall,it is a good basic recipe. I'm sure I'll be making this again soon, if for nothing other than to see my daughter to this:


My daughter loved it so much, she literally licked her bowl clean!


Here are some pictures from the race. Please scroll down to the bottom for the recipe.

Pre-race self-portrait. It was a great morning for a run.

Beautiful Old Town Alexandria and the Potomac River.

Post-race...Yay! I did it!!

My kids were at the finish line to cheer me on.

Afterwards, it was time for juice boxes and 'nanas!

My son loved the moonbounce and watching the ducks.


Ingredients
1 box of thin spaghetti
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 pound ground chuck beef
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. sugar (not in original recipe)
1/2 tsp. oregano (not in original recipe)
1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley, chiffonade
8 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano

Directions
In a 6 quart pot, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1/2 hour.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to box directions.
Drain the pasta when finished cooking. Add the bolognese sauce on top, sprinkle with a little additional basil and Pecorino Romano.