Ground Turkey Spaghetti Recipe | The Gracious Pantry (2024)

FAQs

What is the one ingredient that makes spaghetti sauce so much better? ›

Nutmeg. Nutmeg is the key to boosting earthiness and adding a touch of nuttiness to your spaghetti sauce. Nutmeg also has a slightly sweet flavor, which we know goes great with acidic canned tomatoes. Overall, it accentuates the other ingredients in the sauce and adds complexity.

IF YOU COOK spaghetti in a big pot of water, drain it, then toss it with sauce, you are pouring a lot of flavor down the drain, says Vendemmia chef Brian Clevenger. “The trick to good pasta is cooking it in the sauce,” he says. It was while working at Delfina in San Francisco that he really started to understand why.

How do you add flavor to ground turkey? Turkey meat can be flavored with easy ingredients like kosher salt and pepper, bell peppers, garlic powder, and olive oil. If you're cooking meat, specifically turkey taco meat, hot sauce and enchilada sauce are your best mates.

Starting with good quality tomatoes and crushing them by hand offers great flavor and texture later on. The combination of butter and oil releases fat-soluble aromatics and gives the sauce a creamy texture. Slowly cooking the sauce in the oven creates rich caramelization without burning.

Olives and capers add a punch of briny goodness and give tomato sauce some real personality. Toss in some chopped or whole, pitted olives and/or a handful of drained capers after heating the sauce for several minutes. Or, if you're adding garlic or sautéed vegetables, add to the sauté just before you pour in the sauce.

If you do not have crushed or diced tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce and tomato paste instead. If using tomato paste, you will need to add 1 cup of water and allow the sauce to simmer. Worcestershire sauce – (Optional) Deepens the flavor of the sauce.

Use salt and pepper to season ground beef, turkey, or pork. Add garlic, onions, bell peppers, oregano, basil, parsley, or Italian seasoning for extra flavor. Stir red pepper flakes, chili powder, or hot sauce into the meat for a spicy kick.

Before you start cooking, be sure to season the ground turkey well with salt and pepper. Also consider including dried herbs and spices for additional flavor.

How to season ground turkey to taste like beef? ›

I usually add some spices and herbs that compliment the meat. Try adding some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, maybe some rosemary. If you want to go with a bit of a spicier flavor try adding some cajun seasoning.

2. Ensure Pleasing Texture and Richer Taste. Even 93 percent lean ground turkey—often the fattiest preground turkey you can buy—can still taste too lean and can easily dry out during cooking. To temper those effects, we added 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the meat, along with a panade of milk and panko.

The longer the better but you need to get the temperature right. It just needs to gently bubble, not boil. The longer you cook it the thicker the sauce so for thinner, long cooked sauce, consider adding no more than about a half a cup of water after about two hours of cooking. Then cook for another hour.

Assuming we'e talking about tomato sauce, a long, slow simmer helps reduce the acidity of the tomatoes and brings out their sweetness. People pass up this time consuming step by adding a bit of sugar to their sauce, or adding grated carrots, but neither method gives you the same delicious depth of flavor.

Step 4: Add Pasta Water

Once the pasta is in the sauce, add pasta water. This is the most vital step in the process. Starchy pasta water doesn't just help thin the sauce to the right consistency; it also helps it cling to the pasta better and emulsify with the fat and cheese you're going to be adding.

It is widely held that Italian immigrants began adding sugar to their sauce to make up for the overly acidic tomatoes they were forced to work with in their new home.