Good Italian food is simple, with great ingredients, cooked well. A lot of other meat sauces get it wrong, throwing in oregano and other ingredients that are unnecessary. This is the meat sauce you want!
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
Olive oil
1 TBSP butter
1 medium sized onion diced
1 carrot diced
2 celery sticks diced
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 lbs ground beef (or combo of 50/50 ground beef and pork; I have even used ground lamb in the past)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup of red wine
1 cup of beef stock (you can also use water or milk)
pasta of your choice (2-3 OZ dry per person)
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper
Method
- Bring a large pot to a boil. Salt the water.
- Heat a large sauce pot on medium and cover the bottom in olive oil, add the butter
- Once the butter is melted, add the carrot, celery and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat a bit and cook until the onions are translucent. Smell the aromas. Now you are cooking!
- Add the garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Increase the heat to high and add the ground meat. Season with salt and pepper again. Cook the meat until brown and breaking it up into bits. Reduce heat to medium.
6. Add the tomato paste and continue to cook everything for 1-2 minutes.
7. Increase the heat and add in the red wine. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.
8. Add the stock , milk or water. If the sauce looks dry, add more stock, milk or water as necessary.
9. Let this simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better.
10. Throw in some Parmesan, stir and taste. Season with salt and pepper until it tastes good to you.
11. Put your pasta into the boiling water and cook according to package instructions less one minute.
12. Transfer cooked pasta to sauce and toss everything around. Taste one more time. If it needs it, season it more.
13. Transfer to serving bowls, top with more Parmesan cheese, serve and enjoy!
