Meat Sauce

One of my strongest olfactory memories is of my grandparents’ meat sauce. Depending on which grandparent felt like cooking that day, it was either my grandmother or my grandfather at the stove.

They would let that sauce gently simmer for hours on Sunday morning. The long, slow cook thickened the texture and enriched the flavors.

How to Use Meat Sauce

By 1 pm, it was time to sit and enjoy the sauce. Typically, our family served meat sauce over penne or ziti with plenty of Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Some families might simply have served it over spaghetti, which is why some people find the phrase “meat sauce” to be synonymous with “spaghetti sauce.” This is opposed to a marinara sauce, which does not contain meat. Speaking of which, do you call a meat sauce gravy or sauce?

Tomato sauce freezes well and having it on hand can be really convenient if you need an idea for a busy weeknight meal, or have a hankering for homemade pizza. If you want to use this sauce for lasagna, stick with ground meat or sausage with the casings removed to make assembly easier. Also, I know I prefer a meatier lasagna, so I would opt for a little extra meat if that is what is on the menu.

The recipe here is enough to generously cover two pounds of pasta at a large Sunday dinner. If you don’t need as much, you can reduce the ingredient portions. Better yet, make it all and freeze some.

The Foundation of a Basic Meat Sauce

Tomato sauce in my house growing up was a meat sauce. Since Leah is pescatarian, I often make it without the meat (which is basically a marinara sauce). Or, if we want the taste and feel of meat without using meat, we’ll go with Impossible meatballs.

The sauce recipe in this post returns to my roots. It starts with browned meat of your choice, meat balls, sausage, or even a few chunks of plain pork. It’s really your choice based on your taste and what’s on hand.

I’m partial to sausage and meatballs. I was never really drawn to the pork pieces. If you are looking for a vegetarian option, substitute your favorite faux meat, or skip the meat and follow the recipe for a basic marinara sauce. If you go in this direction, add a tablespoon of olive oil to your sauce.

I’m not sure that I ever saw my grandparents use a measuring spoon outside of baking. As my daughter puts it, they measured with their hearts. I encourage you to do the same.

Ingredients

Starting the Sauce

To make a good sized pot full of basic meat sauce, finely chop one large or two medium onions and 6-10 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste). Stir the onion in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil until it is translucent. Then, add the garlic and about a pound of meat. Brown the meat. Feel free to add more meat for a heartier sauce.

Chop the onion.

Chop the garlic.

Heat the olive oil

Stir the onion.

Add garlic.

Brown the meat.

If you are using sausage, cut them into chunks that are about a half inch thick or remove the casings. Once the meat is brown, add it to three 28-ounce cans of either crushed or pureed tomatoes. Purists will tell you to insist on San Marzano tomatoes. They are great and are a bit less acidic than many other varieties. However, they can also be a bit pricey. So, go with whatever your budget can afford. We will talk later about ways to cut acidity if need be.

Add the meat mixture to the tomatoes.

Crushed vs diced vs pureed tomatoes

When it comes to deciding between diced, pureed or crushed, let your personal preference be your guide. For a smoother sauce, go with puree. For a bit more texture, opt for the diced or crushed. Experiment and mix them if you’d like.

When you get a call that your dinner guests are bringing friends, no problem. Just toss in another can of tomatoes and a pinch more seasoning. If you run out of large cans of puree or crushed tomatoes, turn to cans of tomato paste. One to two cans added and then filled with water will help to stretch the sauce to feed more mouths.

Tomato paste is also great to adjust the final texture of your sauce. If your meat sauce is not feeling as thick as you’d like it, add the paste, but with less water. For a little pizazz, half a cup of red wine adds some depth of flavor.

Now, I hope you are noticing a key point in this discussion. There is no tomato sauce recipe that needs to be taken literally. In fact, there are probably as many sauce variations as there are Italians.

Seasoning and Spices

For a pot of sauce this size, I add two teaspoons of kosher salt. Growing up, we had several people in our family with high blood pressure, so we would put about a teaspoon of salt in the sauce and let individuals season to taste on their plate. So, if you want to reduce salt intake, that’s a simple method.

I like to add three tablespoons of dried basil, or several fresh basil leaves, finely chopped. A tablespoon of oregano is great too. While my family growing up didn’t do this, a teaspoon of red pepper adds a nice kick. I like it; you might, too.

One of the seemingly odd ingredients in my family’s sauce recipe is mint. My grandfather would add a teaspoon of dried mint or a few fresh leaves of finely chopped fresh mint. Of course, when using fresh, I knew it came right from the garden.

My grandpa swore by it to help cut the tomatoes’ acidity. If you find that your sauce is too acidic, you could also add sugar. The sweetness does help, but also adds unnecessary calories. I don’t love that option.

Another way to cut acidity is to add a tiny amount of baking soda. If you think back to high school chemistry, a base will counteract an acid.

Be very careful if you do this. Add a tiny amount — I’m talking less than a quarter of a teaspoon — at a time. If you overdo it with the baking soda, your sauce will take on a thick, almost slimy, texture. It will taste fine, of course, but will feel weird in your mouth. Trust me, I’ve made that mistake.

Give it a Long Simmer

Once you’ve got it all in the pot, bring it to a boil. Continue stirring to avoid burning the bottom. Then, let it simmer on a low heat for as long as you can. I like to give it at least an hour. Stir it occasionally. Also, don’t forget to taste it along the way and add more spices to match your taste buds.

Sauce is personal. Make it your own. Enjoy the process.

Finally, if you have any ground beef or turkey leftover from making sauce, consider using it to make deconstructed stuffed peppers.

Storing Your Sauce

Leftover meat sauce is good in the refrigerator for a few days. Also, it freezes very well. So, if you don’t think you’ll use it right away, I would recommend transferring it to freezer-safe containers — we love the Rubbermaid ones with a vented top — and tossing it in the freezer.