Master Meat Sauce
Carrots have a sweet flavor that makes for amild-tasting meat sauce and healthy as well. Serve this thick meaty dish overcooked rice, spaghetti or in a bun. For the ground beef, I use ground chuckbecause as Goldilocks might say, it’s not too fat and it’s not too lean.
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 very large onion or 2 medium onions
- 2 carrots
- 1 large celery stalk trimmed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 pounds ground beef
- 1 can 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 can 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and onion and set aside.
- Finely chop the carrots and celery.
- Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven.
- Add the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery and sauté over high heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until the onions are transparent and lightly browned.
- The vegetables may give off plenty of liquid, which prevents browning.
- If this happens, continue to cook.
- Remove the vegetables and set aside.
- Add the ground beef to the Dutch oven.
- Brown the meat on all sides, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.
- Pour off any accumulated fat.
- Return the vegetables to the beef.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper.
- Simmer 1 hour.