This is the number one meal I make if I want comfort food that everyone will eat with zero complaints. My kids love pasta. I mean, if they didn't love pasta, I would have to get myself some new kids because pasta is awesome. They will eat an entire bowl of this no questions asked and no prodding them or counting bites. They just demolish it. 

I also make it for company because guess what? My guests love pasta too. Or I would get new guests because pasta is awesome. 

You will need: 

1. Olive oil
2. A half pound of ground beef (sometimes I use more and reserve extra meat for another recipe - a definite mom hack in my book)
3. A half pound of Italian bulk sausage; 
4. Marinara sauce - at least a normal sized jar's worth; 
5. A box of pasta (I use whole wheat because I am slightly crunchy);
6. Some leftover red wine - or fresh from the bottle you are currently working on; 
7. A few fresh basil leaves or half a cube of frozen basil; 
8. Parmesan cheese 

Directions: 

1. Heat a teaspoon or so of olive oil in a large pan; 
2. Brown the ground beef and bulk sausage together in the pan over medium heat (sidebar: you could add onion and garlic to this depending on if you are feeling fancy or just need to get food on the table fast); 
3. When the meat is browned add a cup or red wine to deglaze the pan - more if you wish; 
4. Allow the wine to cook down for about five minutes; 
5. Add the marinara sauce to the mean/wine mixture and bring to a simmer; 
6. Add half a basil cube or tear apart a few fresh basil leaves and add to the sauce mixture; 
7. In a separate medium saucepan boil enough water for your pasta; 
8.  Cook pasta according to the directions on the box and drain;
9. Add the pasta to the pan with the simmering sauce and mix everything together.  
10. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.  

You can see above that I had a giant pot of red sauce cooking on the same day that I made this meal for my family. I make homemade marinara sauce, usually on a Sunday, and then use it to make several dinners throughout the week and even a lasagna or two to freeze. 

Usually when I make this meal I am using my own homemade marinara sauce so I don’t worry about adding extras to the pasta mixture because I put all of the good stuff in the sauce. However, I have made this recipe with sauce from a jar or can and added garlic, and one onion to the cooked meat mixture to give it more flavor.  

This is one of my kids' favorite dinners and I must confess, one of mine too.