Radiatori and Spicy Pasta Sauce

This is the sauce we make almost every time we eat pasta; it uses ingredients that we tend to always have on hand and it's easy to make and so flavorful. It has a somewhat smoky, buttery smell and it's rich, spicy and filling. It's packed with healthy ingredients and different textures (ok, maybe butter isn't healthy but a little butter can't hurt, right?). We've tried it with numerous kinds of pasta - my favorite is maybe radiatori, I love how the sauce gets stuck in all of the little ridges.

Recipe after the jump.

Tomato-Based Pasta Sauce with Chipotle

Ingredients 

• 1 680 mL can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/3 pound ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, finely chopped 
• around 10 regular white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 chipotle pepper, minced
• 2 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large pinch dry basil
• 1 pinch dry oregano
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• splash of chicken stock (optional) 

(I don't measure the ingredients so the amounts listed are approximations - use as little or as much as you want! Feel free to add or omit ingredients and fine tune the recipe to suit your tastes.)

Directions

1. Heat olive oil on medium heat in a deep pan.
2. Saute beef until brown - stir constantly and break up pieces that stick together.
3. Add butter, onion, garlic, carrot, green pepper mushrooms - stir for a minute or so or until the onion starts to look translucent.
4. Add tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, chipotle and chicken stock - bring to a boil and then lower heat.
5. Add water if the sauce seems too thick - cover and cook for at least an hour.
6. Serve with your choice of pasta and grated cheese.