Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce
We just love the fresh taste of a scratch made pasta sauce.
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We love cooking up a batch of this hearty meat sauce for Sunday dinner, but this quick recipe is easy enough for weeknights and still has that slow-cooked taste. Its secret is to add our favorite dry red wine or hearty beef broth for depth of flavor. Carrots offer sweetness to cut the acidity of the tomatoes, and usually, we shred or finely dice our carrots, but kept them as rounds here for the look and texture.
Our kitchen is suddenly crowded when the aroma of this meat sauce starts to fill the house. Everyone wants to sneak a little taste, with the dip of a spoon or slice of bread to scoop out this delicious sauce. Scratch made food doesn’t have to take all day to prepare. With a few simple ingredients, we can enjoy that fresh homemade taste without too much fuss.
Pasta Sauce With Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper
- 1 cup dry red wine or beef stock
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Preparation
- Heat olive oil in a heavy saucepot. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat stirring frequently until vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in ground beef, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Continue cooking over medium-high until the ground beef is no longer pink. Break up ground beef into smaller pieces as it cooks.
- Pour in wine or beef broth, and stir well, incorporating any browned bits from pan bottom.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low, and continue simmering sauce for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove sauce from heat. Serve over pasta. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Celebrating Sweets