The Ultimate Meat Sauce

You can use whatever minced meat you prefer, but I think the ultimate meat sauce really needs beef mince. Just make sure it's not too lean or fatty.

Ingredients

500g beef mince
One parmesan crust
Mirepoix but as I didn't have stick of celery I just finely chopped an onion and two carrots, adding a pinch of celery seeds to compensate for the lack of a celery stick or two
One tin chopped tomatoes
One jar tomato frito or passata
Crushed clove of garlic
Bay leaf
Pinch dried mixed herbs
Pinch sea salt, black pepper, sugar and chilli flakes
Parmesan cheese, grated
Stock or water

How to Make the Ultimate Meat Sauce

Start by gently sweating the carrots and onions with a pinch of salt.

When softened, add the mince meat and brown.

Add garlic, bay leaf, dried herbs, celery seeds, pepper, parmesan crust, and chilli flakes. Stir and cook for one minute.

Add chopped tomatoes. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

Add tomato frito or passata. Stir and continue cooking.

Add stock or water; I prefer to homemade chicken stock for this sauce.

Partly cover and simmer for 1½ hours, as low as the flame will go, checking and stirring every 20 or 30 minutes. Add more stock or water as necessary.

Towards the end of the cooking time, stir in grated parmesan.

Remove the parmesan crust and bay leaf.

And there you have it - my ultimate meat sauce.

Another great meat sauce you could try is Gino D’Campo’s Timballo alla torrese. Actually, it is his mum's recipe.

By the way you do not have to add a crust if you are adding grated parmesan. I save my crusts in the freezer and use them to add creaminess to soups, sauces, etc.

This makes a sufficient amount of meat sauce for spaghetti bolognese, cannelloni, lasagne, etc., so you can bag up any excess and store it in the freezer.

This recipe is part of my Beef and Veal Recipes collection. It joins a growing collection of beef and veal recipes — from quick weeknight beef mince suppers to slow-braised veal dishes worth waiting for — all gathered in one place. Browse the full collection at Beef and Veal Recipes — The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection.

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