Vince’s pasta meat sauce

A versatile recipe which can be used for various dishes

In your personal box of recipes, you should have an old recipe that is the main ingredient in a variety of dishes. This is one of those recipes, very versatile and delicious. Sometimes lazy and triumphant meals can still be a recipe for happy guests.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

500g mixed pork and beef coarsely minced

1 diced onion

1 diced carrot

1 diced celery stick

2 cans of peeled tomatoes

½ cup basil

1 litre stock

100ml wine

West Australian extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

West Australian organic lake salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Fry half the onion in EVOO until a little coloured, then add the carrot and celery and cook for two minutes. Now add the minced meat and fry while stirring occasionally. Add a little more olive oil if you think it needs it. 

When the meat is cooked add the wine and stir. Stew together for 10 minutes or until half of the juices has evaporated then add the tomatoes and 250ml of stock and mix well. When the meat sauce starts to bubble, lower the heat and stir occasionally while cooking for 30 minutes. During this time add a little stock so the sauce does not dry out. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Now is the hard part. Although the sauce is ready to use and it tastes good, Italian grandmothers continue to simmer it adding stock as required for up to three hours. Every hour it tastes better and richer. You decide if you want to cook longer. Serve some with pasta or use it as a base to make other interesting dishes. Ciao

Ps. It stays fresh for a week in the fridge or frozen for six months.

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