Meat Sauce and Meatless Sauce

I’ve been craving meat sauce for years now. I don’t know why I haven’t made it meatless before but that’s beside the point. It was truly wonderful and for all of you vegetarians out there that miss meat it is a must try.

Meat Sauce

1 tbs of evoo

about 1 ½ lbs of  lean ground beef

¼ of a medium onion

3 to 4 cloves of minced garlic

S&P to taste

1 jar of homemade sauce (just tomatoes, salt, and basil) or some canned pureed tomatoes or you can buy diced tomatoes and puree them yourself

3 heaping tsp of tomato paste

Italian seasoning

Small pinch of hot pepper flakes

3 splashes of Merlot or whatever red wine you are in the mood for

Start by browning the meat in a large bottom pan or skillet with evoo for about 2 minutes. Breaking up the meat as you go. Then add the onions and garlic and cook until the meat is tender and breaks up to a smooth consistency. Then add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Next add your sauce or tomatoes and tomato paste, Italian seasoning, and a little pinch of hot pepper flakes (to your liking of course). Cook about 20 minutes until the sauce reduces and add a few splashes of wine. Cook another 10 minutes and serve over a ½ lb your favorite pasta, we used penne. It is important that you cook the pasta to al dente for meat sauces because mushy pasta cannot hold thick sauces. Top with any cheese you like. Dom likes Parmesan cheese.

This is your basic meat sauce and my hubby loved it! You can add peas, mushrooms or, sausage

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Meatless Sauce

1 ½ tbs of butter

Drizzle of Evoo

2 8 oz packages of crimini mushrooms or 16 oz of portabellas diced

¼ of a medium sized onion

3-4 cloves of minced garlic

S&P to taste

1 jar of homemade sauce (just tomatoes, salt, and basil) or some canned pureed tomatoes or you can buy diced tomatoes and puree them yourself

2 heaping tsp of tomato paste

Italian seasoning

Small pinch of hot pepper flakes

Pinch of rosemary

3 splashes of Merlot or whatever red wine you are in the mood for

Melt the butter in a large pan and then add a drizzle of evoo and then add the mushrooms onions and garlic. Saute until the mushrooms and onions are brown and then add salt and pepper. Then add your tomato sauce, paste, Italian seasoning, pinch of rosemary, and hot pepper flakes. Let this cook about 20 minutes then add the wine and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve over a ½ lb of your favorite pasta and make sure it is al dente to hold the sauce. Top with any cheese you like, I really like Pecorino Romano for this dish.

The butter is important in this dish because it brings out the meaty flavor of the mushrooms. Also the rosemary adds a bright woodsy flavor to the sauce. My mom actually used to add mushrooms to her meat sauce, which gave me the idea to use mushrooms for mine.

I was very happy to recreate a meat sauce that actually tasted meaty. It was a welcomed treat because I’ve missed meat sauce a ton since it was a regular meal in my parents household growing up. The only thing I would change next time is that I would dice up the mushrooms a bit smaller. The smaller the dice of the mushrooms, the more it will be the consistency of a meat sauce.