Quick and easy vintage spaghetti recipe!

[norgeway]

I saw this in the January 1960 Better Homes and Gardens, tried it and boy was it a hit!!Doesen't sound like it would work but it does!
All At Once Spaghetti.
1 Tbsp Wesson Oil
1 large chopped onion
1/2 pound ground beef
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2-8oz cans Hunts tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 pound uncooked spaghetti
In saucepan or skillet, heat oil and cook onion until soft, add beef and fry until no red color remains, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add tomato sauce and water, bring to a boil, break spaghetti in half and stir in a little at a time so it doesen't stick together, cover tightly and cook 30 minutes, stir occasionally.. This is an amazing recipe, I added a teaspoon each of oregano and basil, also I used a pound of hamburger, it is very thick and you would think it had cooked all day.This recipe was published by Hunts.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I make my spaghetti in my slow cooker--and it's one of the fewest things tha I don't mind having left-overs of, night-after-night!!!!

-- Dave

 

[petek]

Sort of like a precursor to Hamburger Helper

 

[mixguy]

Have a similar recipe in Maytag Cookbook from 1949

Skillet Spaghetti Dinner

2 tbs olive oil
1/2 lb lean ground beef
salt & pepper, dried basil and oregano to taste
4 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into 4" length
1 small onion--chopped
1 green sweet bell pepper-chopped
2 c. diced tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce

Using med high heat Heat skillet for 3 min. Add oil, ground beef & onion. Brown the meat. Add the the remaining ingredients, stir to distribute ingredients evenly so spaghetti will not clump during cooking. Cover when steam starts to escape, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 40 min. Serves 4 to 6.

 

[pulltostart]

It's 7:42 am and I'm sitting at my desk reading this - and I'm sooo hungry!

Thanks for pointing out the recipe. I will have to give it a try.

L

 

[kevin313]

Hans - I love this retro recipe! It saves a step (cooking the pasta in a different pot and then combining everything) so I will have to give it a try. You don't drain the fat from the ground meat?

 

[norgeway]

No,

You know in the old days people were not afraid of fat!! But I used 93% lean ground chuck.But as you know, the fat carries the flavor!

 

[kevin313]

Hans - LOL! You're right! They loved their fats!

 

[joeekaitis]

"4 oz uncooked spaghetti, broken into 4" length"

My dear departed Nonna would haunt my dreams. She warned us to NEVER cut or break spaghetti.

Scandaloso!

 

[joeekaitis]

"You know in the old days people were not afraid of fat!

The drippings from frying or roasting meatballs were the first ingredient in my mother's spaghetti sauce, but if more than a quarter-inch had accumulated after simmering, she'd skim a little off.

 

[countryguy]

What's wrong with breaking spaghetti?  I always break it in half so that it fits in the pot.

 

Gary

 

[chuffle]

Breaking spaghetti...

My mom always broke spaghetti in half before plunging it in the pot. Someone showed me how to put whole length spaghetti into a pot while I was in college, and I have never gone back to broken. I've always found full length spaghetti easier to twirl on my fork (it remains on the fork better). It works for me, but others may not see the benefit.

Joe

 

[pulltostart]

BH&G version

I came home and pulled my copy of the January 1960 BH&G, checked the "Advertisers Index" in the back and found that the Hunts ad was on page 85.  Prest-O!  There it is under the banner of "Quick Stunts with Hunt's Tomato Sauce".  Sounds just as tastey in the magazine as it does in the original post.  I'll definitely be giving this one a try.

 

Lawrence

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

The Art of Boiling Pasta W/O Breaking It First!!!!

I've managed to get my spaghetti to fit in boiling water w/o breaking it myself!

In fact even in my Crock Pot, my 'Easy Does It' Spaghetti recipe I can put the spaghetti in whole! (I just let it soften and gently push it into the already cooking meat sauce!)

-- Dave

 

[maytagbear]

Try saying

"Quick stunts with Hunt's" five times in a row, rapidly!

(evil little grin).

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[countryguy]

Well yes I can push the spaghetti into the pot as it softens also but why when I can just break it in half and dump it in?  I find when it is in half, it makes it easier to roll on the fork and also there is less on the fork so easier to fit in the mouth (no comment on mouth size required!  LOL)

 

Gary

 

[bajaespuma]

Well yes I can push the spaghetti into the pot as it softens

Do you know how many Italian friends in my area of the country have absolutely FREAKED when I broke the spaghetti strands to fit them into the pot??? Apparently, to the locals, this practice, which I grew up with being from an Armenian-American family in New York City, is ten times worse than stepping on a crack and breaking your mother's back. Oy.

 

Once again, Connie Fulin's school night Sicilian <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Meat Sauce</span>:

 

4 tablespoons Olive Oil (back in her day there was no labeled Extra Virgin, but the Madre Siciliana from the can was greener than shampoo)

1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced as finely as possible

1 lb. ground chuck

2 small cans Hunts tomato sauce

1 small can Hunts tomato paste (she actually thought the Progresso canned tomato products back then were too sour)

l large fresh Basil leaf

 

On low heat, saute garlic in olive oil until it just barely sizzles and fills the room with its aroma. Add chuck and raise heat and brown. When chuck is almost all brown, add tomato products and stir in. Bring to a simmer and add basil leaf. Simmer 30 minutes and done. This is our Family spaghetti sauce and will remain so forever.

 

[countryguy]

I still don't understand WHY it is so horribly wrong to break the spaghetti?  It doesn't change the taste.

 

Gary

 

[joeekaitis]

Kitchen superstition: It's bad luck.

Gustatory reality: Shorter strands flail around on the fork and fling sauce all over your white shirt. The only exception is spaghetti that's at least 18 inches long like some paper-wrapped Italian imported brands, and only in half.