When talking about pasta meat sauce, I’m not a big fan of seeing watery juices around my plate. I love my meat sauce thick and creamy. I don’t remember anymore how I came about this idea of adding bouillon in my meat sauce, but ever since I started making it this way, I never looked back.
If you want to see how I made this creamy cremini mushroom meat sauce with loads of thyme, watch the video below. I recommend using fresh thyme if you have that available. Fresh spices are always better than the dried version. I didn’t have it handy when I made this recipe, but the dried thyme did the job. You can also add some fresh basil to this if you wish. I would if I had it available at our local market. Unfortunately they ran out…sigh!
Creamy Cremini Mushroom Spaghetti Meat Sauce w Thyme
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- .552 kg Medium ground beef
- 1/2 White onion chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped
- 8-10 pcs Cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 cup Tomato paste
- 1 cube Vegetable bouillon
- 2-3 tbsp Dried thyme leaves use fresh if available
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Noodles
-
1) Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2)Once boiling, add the spaghetti and cook (stirring occasionally) for 9-10 minutes for an al dente result.
3)Once time is up, drain and run the pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process.
4)Set aside.
Meat Sauce
-
-In a pan, start with olive oil, followed by the chopped garlic, onion and ground meat. Cook until semi-brown.
- Add the sliced mushrooms. Cook until brown.
- Add the seasonings: dried thyme, salt and pepper.
- Crush and melt 1 vegetable or beef bouillon in hot water and add it in the pan.
- Add the tomato paste. The tomato paste and bouillon will thicken the sauce. Add about 1 cup water. Cook
*NOTE: Add a little bit more water if this is too thick for your liking.
- Add the coconut sugar. Cook for another 5-7 minutes.
Plating
-
On a plate, start with the pasta and add the sauce on top.
Add some shredded cheddar cheese.
Drizzle with evoo if you wish.
Garnish with dried thyme. And voila!
Recipe Notes
I highly recommend adding fresh basil leaves to your pasta. Add sliced basil right at the very end with the stove already turned off. It's so yummy! I would too if I had available when I made this video. Enjoy!