Classic Italian Meat Sauce
Description
This is a classic meat sauce made with ground beef, carrots, celery, onions and canned tomatoes. Use it for serving over pasta, in lasagna or baked pasta like ziti.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef, or mixture of ground beef, pork and or veal
2 T. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 c. onion, diced
1/2 c. carrot, finely diced
1/2 c. celery, finely diced
inch red pepper flakes, optional
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 c. red wine
28 oz. whole canned tomatoes, hand-crushed
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. basil leaves, chopped, or 2 T. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
1-2 T. brown sugar, to taste
2 t. salt
Finish:
1/4 c. heavy cream
2 T. butter
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions
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In a large pot or a Dutch oven, heat 1 T. olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Use a spoon to remove most of the fat/liquid in the pot; continue cooking the ground beef to brown. Remove ground beef to a bowl; set aside.
Add the remaining olive oil to the same pot; heat over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery; cook, stirring, until the onion is softened, 4-5 minutes. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic; cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Don't let the garlic burn. Add the tomato paste; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the red wine; stir; cook/simmer for about 2 minutes, or until reduced by about half. Add the tomatoes, water, basil, oregano, brown sugar and salt; stir. Return the ground beef to the pot.
Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat to medium-low; simmer for about 2 hours, stirring regularly and more frequently as the mixture starts to thicken. Watch closely and stir often as the sauce thickens, because the sauce can scorch if is sits on the bottom of the pan in the thicker sauce. Cook sauce until desired thickness is reached.
If making the sauce for pasta, you might leave it a bit thinner. For lasagna or other baked pasta, you might cook the sauce until most of the liquid has cooked off.
Add the heavy cream and butter to the sauce; cook, stirring until combined and warmed through. Salt and pepper, to taste.
If desired, blend the sauce just a little with a few blitzes of an immersion blender to blend the onion and carrots into the sauce. This isn't necessary, just if preferring a smooth sauce.
Use sauce immediately or cool a bit, then refrigerate or freeze.
8 servings.