Semi-homemade makes this tasty and quick. Fen­nel is the secret ingre­di­ent that makes it taste like it’s been sim­mer­ing on the stove all day. Don’t be intim­i­dated by the long list of ingre­di­ents – they’re mostly herbs that you should have in your pantry.

Save your left­over pasta for Quick Pesto Pasta or as a hearty Pasta Egg Scram­ble.

Prep time: 15 min­utes
Total time: 40 min­utes
Yield:  Serves 6

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. whole fen­nel seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
3–4 cloves crushed gar­lic
1 25-oz. can of your favorite chunky pasta sauce (I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Gar­lic)
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
Parme­san Cheese optional
fresh basil to gar­nish
crushed red pep­per flakes
1 16-oz. bag of Fusilli rice pasta (Tin­kyada brand is best)

1. Add beef to a large, deep skil­let set on medium high heat. Imme­di­ately add oregano, basil, fen­nel and salt. Cook together until beef is browned. Add crushed gar­lic and cook a moment longer. Tip skil­let and drain off as much liquid/fat as you can, hold­ing a lid over the meat.
2. Add pasta sauces to skil­let with meat and bring to a boil Sim­mer for about 15 min­utes, stir­ring occasionally.
3. In the mean­time, cook pasta is 4 1/2 quarts of salted, boil­ing water. When you add the pasta to the water, driz­zle in about 1 T olive oil and imme­di­ately stir. Cook for 8–10 min­utes. Rice pasta can get very starchy, so stir it every few min­utes to avoid stick­ing. When pasta is done, drain in colan­der and driz­zle a bit more olive oil over and stir to coat.
4. Plate pasta and top with a gen­er­ous ladle of meat sauce. Sprin­kle with Parme­san cheese if desired, along with pep­per flakes and a basil garnish.