Meat Sauce is used in many pastas, pies or stuffed vegetable dishes. You can also use this aromatic sauce to make shepherd’s pie or moussaka.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp olive oil
2 medium-sized yellow onions, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, peeled and diced
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsely
1 tsp dried oregano
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup red wine
1 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
2 bay leaves
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute the onions, garlic, celery, parsely, oregano, and thyme for about 5 minutes or until softened. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and reserve.

Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the saucepan and saute the ground beef, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes or until the meat has browned. Add the red wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, cinnamon, allspice, bay leaves, salt and pepper and saute for another 5 minutes. Return the onion, garlic, and celery mixture to the saucepan, stir well and simmer the sauce for 45 to 60 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Makes 5 cups