Spaghetti and Meat Sauce a la Johanna!

When I was little whenever my grandparents would cook, in order to motivate us kids to eat their was "La Campeona" contest. Campeona means Champion in Spanish. Sometimes it would be abuela Celeste and other times it would be abuelo Papito encouraging the contest. It really depended on which one was cooking. From what I can remember it was usually one of the two oldest that won campeona. It was either my older cousin Liza, who is the oldest out of her siblings. Or it was myself that finished first. But come to think of it, it was a really insane and unhealthy way to get the kids to eat. Basically the kid that ate all their food the fastest was the campeona. So lots of times even if we didn't like what we were eating we would gulp it all down as quickly as possible so abuela or abuelo could raise our arm and say, "La Campeona!"

The funny thing was we never actually won anything for being the campeona and we knew that. But we didn't care. Being the campeona meant our abuelos were proud of us for eating all their food. It meant we were well-fed, healthy Dominican kids. I'm 23 years old and until this day abuela still says here and there, "ponte a comer muchacha...tu esta muy flaca!" Weighing around 115 pounds and about 5'4 in height, I hardly think I'm under weight. But to a Dominican grandmother your healthy if you have enough meat on you to grab.

Today abuela was "La Campeona," and man was I proud. I have been wanting for the longest to make my own spaghetti sauce. Making spaghetti with Ragu or Prego sauce just feels like cheating. So my wonderful boyfriend who has become quite a expert with pasta himself, lent me one of his cook books. I followed some of the basic steps they had for spaghetti and meat sauce, but did a lot of improvising because I really wanted to make it my own. Hence where the title of this story came from.

After papi and I came back from the supermarket with all my ingredients, abuela came running into the kitchen. When she discovered I was making my own spaghetti and meat sauce from scratch the first thing she asked was, "lo vas a poner en el internet?"

She knows about the blog and has been just as excited about it as myself. In fact every time she sees me in the kitchen, she's like you should mention this on the internet. It's really cute. So when I explained how I was going to make the sauce she said I should name the sauce spaghetti a la Johanna! How cute is that?
So I said to make it clearer to my readers I'll name it spaghetti and meat sauce a la Johanna.

Abuela was the first to eat and the first to finish. She was my campeona today and it meant the world to me. "Johanna se esta convirtiendo en tremenda cocinera," she said. That means I'm becoming a serious cook. Those were the most meaningful words ever. To hear my abuela, one of the best cooks I know to say I am becoming a serious cook. Lets just say my eyes got a little watery.

We all sat down as a family and enjoyed the meal over a glass of white wine. Abuela looked at me while sipping her wine and gave me a wink. And I smiled back. What a great day in the house of the Ferreira's. Check out my recipe and enjoy spaghetti and meat sauce a la Johanna!

Spaghetti and meat sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup chopped red onion
1 cup of chopped green pepper
1/2 cup of chopped celery
4 gloves of garlic minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 14/2 -ounce cans chopped tomatoes undrained and cut up
1 12-ounce can of tomato paste
1 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil
1 tablespoon of dried oregano crushed
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon salt (optional depending on your taste)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb (16oz) of dried spaghetti, parmesan cheese(optional)
1 cup of water

1. The first thing I did was prepare the ground beef. Take about a lb (16 oz) of ground beef a season it. I sprinkled adobo. Than sprinkled a little bit of grounded
oregano. Than poured a little bit of Worchester sauce. Than pour a cap full of vinegar.
2. Than mold the meat around to mix in the seasoning and place it in a pot to brown.
3. while the meat was browning in a separate sauce pot I began to make the sauce.
I poured 1 cup of water.
4. Than I poured the cans of chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, oregano, minced garlic, snipped fresh basil, and stirred.
5. Than I let it take in some flavor and than after added 1 teaspoon of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
6. Bring to a boil, and reduce the heat.
7. Once the ground beef was browning I added the onions, green peppers and celery.
8. Once it was completely browned I drained the grease and added it into the sauce pot. Simmer, cover for about 15 minutes. Uncover: simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally and taste. If lacks add a bit of salt. A cap full of vinegar and a cap full of olive oil.
9. In the mean time, cook the spaghetti pasta according to the package directions. Serve the meat sauce over the cooked pasta. If desired sprinkle Parmesan cheese.