Chef Boyardee’s Spaghetti

Absolutely fantastic tomato and meat sauce served over spaghetti tossed with butter and parmesan

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City/Region: Cleveland, Ohio

Time Period: 1930s

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Chef Boyardee was not born in Cleveland (sorry, 30 Rock), but in Borganovo, just outside of Piacenza in Italy. And his name was not Hector Boyardee, but Ettore Boiardi (boy-AR-dee). He opened an Italian restaurant in Cleveland in 1924, where the food was so popular that he frequently sent patrons home with bottles of his spaghetti sauce.

We can’t know exactly what that original sauce was, but this is from a family recipe and is probably pretty close. And it’s phenomenal. It’s fairly simple, but so good. You get a lot of the fresh basil, and the creaminess from mixing the butter and parmesan directly with the pasta is delicious. I don’t often make dishes from the show again, but I can see myself making this any day of the week.

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Ingredients:

• 2 lbs (1 kg) canned peeled tomatoes, or fresh if they’re in season
• 6 tablespoons (90 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup (140 g) diced onion
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup (70 g) diced carrot
• 1 lb (1/2 kg) lean ground beef
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 5 medium basil leaves, sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup (40 g) sliced mushrooms
• 8 ounces (225 g) dried spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
• 3 tablespoons (20 g) grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Instructions:

1. Chop up the tomatoes, then put them through a food mill or press them through a conical sieve. You want to separate all the juice and pulp from the seeds (a wooden pestle is handy if you use a conical sieve, or it’s possible to press so hard that you break your spatula). Set the tomato sauce aside and discard the seeds.
2. Heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sprinkle it with about half of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down if the onions start to brown.
3. Add the carrots and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes, or until the onions are soft and translucent.
4. Add the meat and break it up into small pieces. Sprinkle the rest of the salt and the pepper over it. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink.
5. Stir in the tomato sauce and the mushrooms. Raise the heat a bit and bring the sauce to a boil. Let it boil for a few seconds, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Place the lid on the pot, slightly ajar and let it cook for about 40 minutes.
6. After the 40 minutes are up and the sauce has thickened, stir in the sliced basil, put the lid back on (ajar), and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. Cook the spaghetti according to the package’s directions. Drain it and return it to the pot. Add the butter and the parmesan. Toss to combine.
8. Dish up the spaghetti and ladle the sauce over it. Sprinkle it with more parmesan and serve it forth.

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