Spaghetti Bolognese

Now most of you will say: who needs a recipe for regular old spaghetti? You may have a point, but since I get so many compliments on mine I'm gonna sock it to you anyway. Because I said so! (Hah, couldn't resist practicing for eventual motherhood.)
The funny thing about this spaghetti is that I didn't learn it from my mom, the big cook, but rather from my dad her dedicated sous chef. My mom pretty much hates ground beef and isn't huge on tomatoes either. Having spaghetti was a fun treat for us when mom was gone and dad was in charge. Much much better than his improvised Indian style shrimp. My poor dad, I guess I've always been a snarky know it all. He tried so hard, and was so proud that he was creative in the kitchen. I had like two bites and asked him for the recipe. He was so excited until I continued and ended my sentence with: "...so I can make it and feed it to my enemies!" Over dramatic 10-year-olds. Now I feel like I should call my dad and apologize for being a little shit and crushing his cooking creativity.

Anyway, maybe we should start with the cooking instead of rambling about my childhood.

Here's what you'll need:

Ground beef large pack (I prefer lean so my sauce doesn't get so greasy)
Spaghetti noodles (honestly you can make this with whatever noodles you have handy)
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 small can petite diced tomatoes (You can get them with Italian seasoning, or with chilies for an extra kick)
1 can tomato paste (they usually come in tiny and small, I like the bigger version)
2 cans mushrooms, or fresh when you can get them
Red wine (Can be omitted or substituted with white wine, red is just more traditional)
Worcestershire Sauce
Mustard
Italian Seasoning (or separate: oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, marjoram)
Paprika
Cayenne (You'll notice I pretty much put that on everything)
Salt & Pepper
(If you want, a shot of soy sauce, maggi, or both)

I make my sauce in a big dutch oven, as I only know how to make it in quantities that will feed armies... ;) I used to make it in a sauce pan, which you totally can, I just find this handier, since dutch ovens (or rather my french oven, oh, la, la) are really my go to work horse. Nowadays when I cook I almost always use my dutch oven, sometimes even in baking like this bread here. This bread would also be perfect to turn into garlic bread to go along with your spaghetti.

As usual I like to preheat my dutch oven and preseason my meat with all the dry spices (salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and Italian seasoning) on one side.

Now toss the meat seasoned side down into your dutch oven.

And add another layer of seasoning on top. I like to add lots of seasoning throughout the process.

Brown your meat until it's mostly cooked.

Now deglaze your pot with some red wine. A cup, more or less, however much seems right to you.

Let most of the alcohol boil off, so you have the concentrated flavors, but not the alcohol taste.

Now you can add your canned tomatoes (crushed and diced)

I now also add the liquid seasonings: mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce and/or maggi.

Now I add some more of the Italian seasoning, paprika, and cayenne because I like spices and herbs.

Just because I thought it was a little bit pretty you get a close up pic too.

Once that's all mixed in together, I add in the shrooms. You could add the mushrooms earlier, it doesn't really matter. But now seems as good of a time as any.

Now I also add my tomato paste. The purpose of it is, that it will help thicken the sauce.

Since I like a thicker chunkier sauce I will let it simmer for some time to help it thicken up. This particular sauce has a bit higher tomato to meat ratio than I would usually do, but they are making the meat packages a bit smaller at the store now. This is again kind of up to you to see what your personal preference is.

Serve and enjoy:

Quickie Summary:

Ingredients:
Ground beef ca. 2-3 lbs (I prefer lean so my sauce doesn't get so greasy)
Spaghetti noodles
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 small can petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste (they usually come in tiny and small, I like the bigger version)
2 cans mushrooms, or fresh when you can get them
Red wine (Can be omitted or substituted with white wine, red is just more traditional)
Worcestershire Sauce
Mustard
Italian Seasoning (or separate: oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary, marjoram)
Paprika
Cayenne
Salt & Pepper
(If you want, a shot of soy sauce, maggi, or both)

Season, then brown meat..
Add more seasonings.
Deglaze with wine.
Let the alcohol cook out.
Add crushed and diced tomatoes.
Add more seasoning.
Add mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and maggi if you choose.
Add your mushrooms.
Add tomato paste to thicken the sauce.
Simmer down until you've reached the desired consistency.