Forget Hamburger Helper. Make your own homemade rotini pasta with beef and mushrooms for a quick and easy week night meal.
Printable recipe: Rotini Pasta & Beef Sauce with Mushrooms
I am fond of any type of pasta with meat sauce. I try different varieties all the time and they all taste just a bit different depending on what you put into the sauce.
Most of the time I use a basic marinara sauce, which uses freshly roasted tomatoes but for this one, I just chose canned, crushed tomatoes, and some tomato paste as the sauce base. (and of course some wine…I use it a lot in cooking and almost always in Italian cooking.)
Wine just gives an extra boost of flavor that is delicious.
Start by cooking an onion and some diced garlic in olive oil. I use a lot of garlic (about 3-4 cloves but you may want to use a bit less. I use as little oil as I can get away with and then spray the onions with Pam if they seem to be sticking.
When the onions are translucent, stir in the fresh herbs. I used thyme, parsley and a bit of rosemary this time. (any spices will do. Basil is also good but I didn’t have any today.)
I cooked my mushro0ms in a bit more oil (spraying again with Pam) in a separate pan but you can cook them in the same one too.
Brown the ground beef until it is no longer pink.
Combine everything into a saucepan and add 2 large cans of crushed tomatoes, 2 tbsp of tomato paste and 1/2 cup of wine. (I used Pinot Grigio today).
Season with Kosher salt and cracked black pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or longer (longer is best.
I often make it early in the day and let it simmer.)
Boil your choice of pasta in salted water according to package directions and drain. Today I used a tri color rotini Smart start pasta with extra fiber. I cooked the whole box.
Once the pasta has drained, put it back in the cooking pot and add the sauce mix to the pasta and stir well.
Sprinkle with some grated fresh Parmesan cheese. Serve with a tossed salad and cheesy garlic bread.
Rotini Pasta & Beef Sauce with Mushrooms
Forget Hamburger Helper. Make your own homemade rotini pasta with beef and mushrooms for a quick and easy week night meal.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 cup of mushrooms
- 1 pound of lean ground beef
- 2 tbsp of olive oil, divided
- 56 ounces of Crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- 1/2 cup of white wine
- 16 ounces of rotini pasta
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- dash of cracked black pepper
- To Garnish: Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink.
- Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and stir in the onions. Cook until translucent and add in the garlic and cook about 1 more minute. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until they are softened and slightly browned.
- Place the ground beef and vegetables in a large saucepan, add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes, white wine and stir. Add kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
- Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, boil the pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain.
- Place the drained pasta back in a large cooking pot. Stir in the meat sauce and stir to combine. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Serve with a tossed salad and some garlic bread.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 347Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 583mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 6gSugar: 11gProtein: 24g
Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.