Tomato Sauce With Ground Beef (and Variations)

Total Time: 1 hr 35 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 whole bay leaf
• 1 -2 cup coarsely cut up mushroom
• 2 1/2 cups diced carrots
• 2 1/2 cups diced celery
• 2 1/2 cups diced green peppers
• 3 1/2 cups red wine

Recipe

• 1 heat oil in a large heavy saucepan; add onion; sauté over low heat, stirring, until tender and golden, about 5 minutes.
• 2 add the garlic, sauté 1 minute.
• 3 meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a skillet, stirring to crumble meat; drain off fat; add the onion mixture.
• 4 optional: now is when you would add the mushrooms, vegetables or red wine.
• 5 sauté until tender or until the wine is reduced by half.
• 6 add the tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, 1 tsp salt, the basil, oregano, pepper and bay leaf.
• 7 heat over medium-low heat to simmering.
• 8 simmer, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally until sauce is thickened and flavourful, about 1 hour 15 minutes.