Meat sauce is one of those things that everyone should know how to make. Now I know its easier to go and buy the canned stuff, and believe me I’ve been tempted several times to do it myself. It’s not that much extra time to make a meat sauce yourself though, and since you know what you put in it, it’ll be a lot more healthy. I was low on cash today so I skipped out on some of the ingredients that I normally buy, no basil, parsley, mushrooms, wine or celery. So what came out of it was a more Japanese Youshoku version of the sauce. Now I’m going to depart from my normal post by actually posting a pseudo recipe. I say pseudo since some stuff is approximation I don’t usually measure when I cook.
What you will need:
1 16oz whole roma tomatoes plain, no basil
1 carrot finely chopped
1/2 a yellow onion
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 lb ground beef chuck
beef stock
olive oil
tomato paste
ketchup
salt
pepper
(2-3 servings)
Assembly instructions:
Open the can of tomatoes put in bowl and crush with your hands, remove the hard part where it connects to the stem. Heat some olive oil in a skillet, add onions and cook till they begin to turn translucent 1-2 mins. Add garlic cook for additional minute, season with salt and pepper. Add carrots cook for another 2 minutes. Add the beef and break it apart. Once beef broken down into small particles add the tomatoes. Add a little beef stock. At this point your going to need to taste the sauce. If its too tart add some ketchup. If it sort of bland add some more tomato paste, salt and pepper. This is where the experimenting comes in. Remember this sauce is going to reduce to maybe 2/3 to 1/2 its original size so flavors will become more concentrated.Bring to a low boil this will allow the sauce to reduce and thicken anywhere from 30 mins to beyond. Once at desired thickened pour and pasta mix it up or just spoon on top. Add some cheese and your done.
