Spaghetti with Turkey Ragu
Want a quick dinner for those busy nights? Here’s an easy spaghetti dish that will help you get dinner done during those busy weeknights. I bet most of these ingredients are already in your pantry. Pasta is one of those dishes that greatly relies on the sauce. We can have any kind of pasta but the sauce is always the star of the show. Pasta is made with water, flour, and egg which barely have any flavor at all. And if it did has some flavor, we still need to add some kind of sauce to enjoy it.
Don’t wait any longer. Let’s get cooking!
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what is a ragu sauce
In Italian cuisine, ragu is a meat-based sauce commonly served with pasta. Today, I’m bringing you my own version of “ragu”. I always balance the flavor with something sweet which I added brown sugar. And to contrast the sweetness I added tomato sauce and lemon juice. To boost the umami taste I added soy sauce which brings the savory aspect of the dish that makes it so flavorful. Sauteing my aromatics like garlic and onion helps release their essential oils, rendering a wonderful aroma and creating a great tasting sauce.
When I went to our local market, I found a ground turkey that was on sale and they looked fresh. My daughter said, isn’t spaghetti sauce suppose to have ground beef? Well, you can make spaghetti sauce with any meat. You can even make it without meat. What sets apart from an ok pasta dish to an amazing one, is getting that burst of flavor right from the first forkful! Sometimes others think that just adding butter, salt, and pepper to your pasta is enough to do the job. That’s not always the case. It needs more TLC than that. It needs a sauce that will help the pasta to become one of your favorite dishes. This “ragu” sauce is a combination of fresh ingredients and dried herbs that’s accessible and economical too. And great tasting!
here are the ingredients you need
- Olive oil
- One onion, chopped
- Four garlic cloves, minced
- One pound ground turkey
- One teaspoon thyme
- Quarter cup soy sauce
- Two tablespoons light brown sugar
- One third cup tomato paste
- Red chili pepper flakes
- Two vine tomatoes, deseed, diced
- One bell pepper, deseed, diced
- One cup chicken broth
- Two basil leaves
- Two tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Add salt to taste
- 16 oz. dried pasta, cooked according to package
- Sprinkle Parmesan cheese at the end of cooking
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Spaghetti with Turkey Ragu
Equipment
- Stockpot
- knife
- cutting board
- Spatula
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/3 cup tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
- 2 vine tomatoes, deseed, diced
- 1 bell pepper, deseed diced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 16 oz. dried pasta, cooked according to package
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Heat the stockpot with oil. Add the onion and garlic, saute for a minute or until fragrant.
- Add the ground turkey, stir, cook until browned. Add thyme, soy sauce, brown sugar, tomato paste, stir to combine.
- Add red chili pepper flakes, diced tomatoes, bell pepper, chicken broth, bay leaves, stir, cover, lower the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes or until the veggies are tender.
- Uncover, add the lemon juice, salt, stir, remove the bay leaves. Add the pasta, continue stirring until well combined. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can use any ground meat you like.
- You can use any pasta you like. Cook aldente
- I like combining green and red bell pepper. If the peppers are too big, cut them in half, deseed, and use only half green and half red pepper.
- You can also add red wine or any of your favorite wines. Reduce the amount of chicken broth by half if you’re adding wine.
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ABOUT JEN
Welcome to my virtual home. I’m a mom of two wonderful girls and a Community Education Culinary Instructor. I love to prepare and cook home-cooked meals. Cooking and planning your meals might sound like another chore added to your already long list of things to do. Believe me, I’ve been there. However, cooking and prepping meals will save you money, time, and you know what goes into your food. Definitely worth the effort. Read more…
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