Easy Cheater Sket for Dinner (AKA Spaghetti)

Wondering what to cook for dinner tonight? Make it easy on yourself with this cheat by using something out of a jar. Especially if I’m cooking for a bunch of kids, do they care if I spent hours simmering a big pot of sauce?

I asked a friend a while back if she ever used marinara sauce from a jar. Without hesitation, she answered flatly, “No.” Gotta tell you, if you can find a quality jarred sauce without preservatives, it’s a real time saver.

When I first got married, Michael’s generous mother tried to send us home with batches of her homemade sauce in little freezer containers. I felt a little insulted at the time because she had given me the recipe and I could make it myself. (What was I thinking turning down a gift of premade food? LOL. New brides…)

Yes, I could make it myself, but the problem was that I hadn’t made it much because it required hours of simmering on the stove top. So, I started making it regularly and putting little containers into the freezer for later just like the care packages Michael was used to receiving.

The Cheat

One fine day not too long ago, I decided to cheat a little. Browned some meat in a skillet and added a little salt, garlic and some dried herbs: basil, oregano and thyme. Poured in the jarred marinara of my choice and Ta-Da! Spaghetti sauce just like mom’s…almost.

Michael was so delighted that I had made his mother’s pasta sauce. (He grew up calling it Sket–short for spaghetti.) Not until later did I reveal I had taken a shortcut, but everyone was happy, so no harm no foul. You could use ground beef, turkey or lamb. Bonus points for sneaking a little extra veggies in. No one will complain about a tiny bit of kale. Try it, you might like it.

Meanwhile, this post has been about an Italian American version of a ragu, for which you can find many variations. If you want to know The Way to Amazing Bolognese, I can show how to make an authentic sauce that’s worth the extra time and effort spent.

On the other hand, you could let someone else make it for you. I definitely recommend the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese at Orto, an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica, CA that knows exactly how it should be done. Bellisimo!