Godfather Gravy with Sicilian Spaghetti

My husband is a vehement cinephile, and one of his favorite films of all time is The Godfather. My job as Kitchen CEO is to take charge of finding the appropriate meal that coordinates with the film we plan on watching for our weekly date we call "Film Feast". This week's film feast centered around Sicily, where the characters in The Godfather originate. I decided to prepare a delicious, simple, authentic Italian spaghetti feast with a Sicilian twist.

Once again, easy to prepare, cost-effective, and can feed an army or just the two of you.

Claudia's Godfather Spaghetti

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
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1 lb ground beef
1 box pasta (Barilla is economical and is the #1 selling pasta in Italy)
4 plump tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 onion
1/2 cup chopped black olive
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
4 cloves garlic
1 cup red Italian wine (such as Chianti)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 cup Fresh, Italian parsley (also known as curly parsley)
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup butter

Add 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to large saute pan on medium high.

Brown ground beef in saute pan, add 1/8 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil to ground beef.

Add chopped onion and garlic to saute pan.

Wipe grease from saute pan with paper towel (do not wet or rinse the beef, as this removes the flavor and seasonings. Just wipe down the pan and remove excess grease from pan).

Add 1 cup Italian wine to saute pan and reduce heat to simmer.

Pour 7 cups water in large pot for boiling. Add salt or olive oil to water. Turn on high until boiling, and add pasta noodles (cooking according to package until they are al dente).

Place tomatoes into food processor. Add tomato paste, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and parsley

Puree until smooth.

Add pureed contents to saute pan with beef.

Add mushrooms to saute pan and stir while noodles are cooking.

Add 1/4 cup butter or extra virgin olive oil to pasta noodles to coat them and keep them from sticking.

Place pasta on plate, ladle "gravy" on top.

Garnish with parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Serve warm with a good Italian wine, such as a Sicilian Calabrese or Chianti. For a great, reasonably priced Italian red, try one of the Ruffino vini rossi wines, at fine supermarkets and international markets nationwide.

Italian bread with garlic makes this an especially delicious meal. Add a homemade tiramisu (Italian for 'pick me up') and you'll send your guests into orbit!

Mamma mia!

P.s. Tiramisu recipe to follow.

P.p.s. Ruffino wines can be found here: www.ruffino.com