Italian Meat Sauce (Print-Friendly Version)
# What You'll Need:
→ Tomatoes and Finishing
01 -
1 can (790 g) tomato purée
02 -
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
03 -
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
04 -
1 can (790 g) ground peeled tomatoes
05 -
4 tablespoons tomato paste
→ Seasonings
06 -
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
07 -
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
08 -
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
→ Sauce Base
09 -
4–6 cloves garlic, minced
10 -
900 g at least 85% lean ground beef or 450 g ground beef and 450 g ground veal
11 -
1 large sweet onion, diced
12 -
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
# Step-by-Step Directions:
01 -
Let the sauce come to a gentle bubble. Drop the heat and let it chill uncovered, stirring from time to time for about an hour. When it’s nice and thick, give it a taste and tweak the flavors if you want.
02 -
Toss in your tomato purée, crushed tomatoes, chopped basil, and sugar. Give it a good stir so everything’s blended together.
03 -
Squeeze in the tomato paste and cook while stirring. You want to lose that super-bright color; it should get a little deeper after a couple minutes.
04 -
Go ahead and shake in black pepper, a bit of salt, and some granulated garlic. Mix it all in with the meat to spread the flavor around.
05 -
Toss the veal and/or beef in next. Let it brown up as you stir every now and then. If there’s extra fat, just scoop it off with a ladle (no biggie). Keep cooking so most of the liquid disappears.
06 -
Chop up that garlic and toss it in with the onions. Let it hang out for about a minute until you can really smell it.
07 -
Pour the olive oil in a big heavy pot and set it over medium heat. Dump in your diced onion and let it soften for about 5 to 8 minutes, letting it get sweet and clear.
# Helpful Notes:
01 -
If you want the sauce a little sweeter, just cook those onions a bit longer at the start. Don’t worry if water pools up—just skim excess fat if there’s a lot of it (not the watery stuff).