Meaty, Beaty, Browned, and Chunky Pasta Sauce

Course: Sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: beef, cheese, cream sauce, garlic, onions, parmessean, tomatoes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes

Stuff You'll Need 

  • Some Olive Oil
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 1 large - yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 tsps of sugar
  • 1 tbsp cooking sherry
  • 1 lb of ground beef - I prefer 80/20 for fat content.
  • 1 lb of ground sausage - mild
  • 4 cloves of garlic - minced
  • 1 28 oz can of pureed tomatoes
  • 2 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
  • 2 8 oz cans of tomato paste
  • 2-4 cans of sliced black olives
  • 1 tbsp of dried basil
  • 1 tbsp of dried oregano
  • 2 tsps of smoked salt
  • Salt
  • Pepper

How to Make It

  • Get a 12″ sautee pan and heat up the stick of butter and a glob (yep, glob) of olive oil over medium-high heat.
  • Salt and Pepper the chopped onions to your liking. When the butter is melted, add the onions to the pan and coat them.
  • Let the onions cook a bit and then add in a tsp of sugar and the cooking sherry. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes.
  • Add the ground beef and ground sausage. Break up any large chunks while cokking until you see little or no pink.
  • Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute.
  • Drain off the fat and juices as much as you wish. (I take out about half.)
  • To the pan with the meat, add the pureed tomatoes, the tomato sauce, the tomato paste, and the olives. Mix it all up.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer.
  • Add the basil and oregano as well as the remaining sugar and the smoked salt. Stir.
  • Let simmer, covered, for at least 4 hours.
  • Season to your taste as needed.
  • Eat it on your favorite pasta, sprinkled with fresh parm and a bit of basil.

Notes

If you are in season for any of the ingredients, use fresh by all means!!!