Did you know October was #NationalPastaMonth? It is and in it’s honor I thought it would be a great time to share a recipe for Meat Sauce. Although not a super quick sauce …. with a little planning on the weekend (or any day that you can spare a couple of hours at home) you can make a big pot of this sauce and even have some leftover for future use.
I make this more like a bolognese sauce, which includes onions (actually I like shallots), carrots and celery, and sometimes I add a touch of cream. It’s entirely your preference.

Tomato sauce can really be so subjective in both taste and texture, but here are some of my favorite tips for making a good sauce – in this case bolognese style meat sauce.

1. Use San Marzano tomatoes whenever possible along with a food mill for straining your tomatoes. It strains out all the seeds while giving your sauce a great consistency.
2. If you have picky eaters like me and need to hide the onion and garlic then use a box grater shred them into the hot olive oil. Then saute with the meat. They will melt into the sauce during the cooking process and nobody will be the wiser.
3. Once you’ve added the tomatoes use an immersion blender to break up any large bits of meat. My family prefers the meat to be of a finer consistency, but I also like to do this because it tends to thicken the sauce a bit as well.
4. My final tip for this sauce (and any sauce or soup) is to include the rind of hard cheese like Parmesan or Romano. Just cut it off and drop it right into the sauce, it adds great flavor. Season your sauce cautiously when you do this as it will add it saltiness.
5. Add cream towards the final half hour or so of cooking. Just as a side note, I think adding a touch of cream to any tomato sauce helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes.

That’s it … you should cook this sauce for at least an hour and a half for maximum flavor and tenderness of the meat. I like to use a pasta with lines, like rigatoni, but the choice of pasta is entirely up to you. Be sure to save any extra sauce for future use. Even if you do not have a lot leftover, you can use small amounts in soups, other meat dishes, or even as a base for another quick homemade marinara sauce.

Here’s my recipe and enjoy!

Simple Bolognese Meat Sauce

Bolognese style meat sauce for pasta

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Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

15 min

Cook Time

1 hr 30 min

Ingredients

1. 3 (28 oz) cans of San Marzano Tomatoes with juice
2. 1 medium shallot - grated
3. 1 celery stick grated
4. 1 carrot stick grated
5. 2 garlic cloves grated
6. 1 lb chopped meat (or combo of meat)
7. 1-2 cloves garlic shredded
8. 1 rind of parmesan/Romano cheese
9. 1/4 cup olive oil
10. 1/2 cup heavy cream/lite cream (optional)
11. Salt & Pepper to taste
12. Parsley and basil to taste
13. 1lb cooked pasta of choice

Instructions

1. In a 6 quart sauce pan heat oil, with shredded carrots, celery, onions and garlic in for several minutes. Then add the chopped meat and cook until no longer pink in color on medium/high heat. Add salt and pepper to taste after browning.
2. Strain 3 cans of tomatoes into the pot (using a food mill if possible). Bring to a simmer, add salt and pepper as needed. Add chopped parsley. Then with an immersion blender puree the sauce with the meat.. just a few pulses of the hand blender should do it. Add parmesan/romano cheese rind and simmer on low for about 1 hour.
3. When sauce is cooked add 1/2 cup of heavy/light cream bring to simmer and continue to cook an additional 1/2 hour then remove from heat.
4. Toss with 1 lb of pasta, like Large Rigatoni and more parmesan cheese.

Notes

1. Save unused sauce for future use

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