Tomato Sauce With Ground Beef (And Variations)

Submitted by Eva99

"My very favourite spaghetti sauce when I make it from scratch. From "365 Ways to Cook Pasta" with some modifications."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 35mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Yields: 6 cups

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole bay leaf

• VARIATIONS

• 1 -2 cup coarsely cut up mushroom
• 2 1⁄2 cups diced carrots
• 2 1⁄2 cups diced celery
• 2 1⁄2 cups diced green peppers
• 3 1⁄2 cups red wine

directions

1. Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan; add onion; sauté over low heat, stirring, until tender and golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, sauté 1 minute.
3. Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a skillet, stirring to crumble meat; drain off fat; add the onion mixture.
4. OPTIONAL: now is when you would add the mushrooms, vegetables or red wine.
5. Sauté until tender or until the wine is reduced by half.
6. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, 1 tsp salt, the basil, oregano, pepper and bay leaf.
7. Heat over medium-low heat to simmering.
8. Simmer, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened and flavourful, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Reviews

[Michelle]

I made the variation with celery and carrots--I left out the wine--but added a teaspoon of sugar. The canned tomato goods were smaller than Eva recommended, just because that's all I had. Still! It came out phenomenal! Best sauce I've ever made. I'm obsessed.

 

[Charlotte J]

This spaghetti sauce was easy to make. The variation we used was to add the red wine. So the sauce has a nice full flavor. I only thing I wanted to add with the wine after we tasted it was mushrooms. But since I had none we'll have to try that another day. This is one of the recipes from Pick A Chef Orphanage 2006. I picked two of Eva99's recipes to make.

 

[Little Bee]

I have that book and this is the recipe I have used for Spaghetti and Meat Sauce for years. I always add the red wine and sometimes the mushrooms if I have them. A wonderful rich sauce full of flavor! Thanks for sharing!