Homemade Meat Sauce

 
My go-to meat sauce is ground beef + a jar of tomato sauce. Nothing wrong with that! I wanted to try something new and came across Nonnies Meat Sauce from Bree's blog. This is perfect to make on a Sunday afternoon while you've got a couple loads of laundry in and you're doing some cleaning...or laying on the couch in front of the TV. :) It just needs a couple hours to simmer.

 This sauce is good- the mushrooms really add that richness. I could not find dried porcini mushrooms at HEB, so I used dried shitake (found in the Asian foods aisle). I still think it needs a little extra something though. Next time I'll add some more seasonings and maybe somemore tomato sauce. If you like your sauce very thick, don't change a thing though! Yum :) Can't mess with Nonnie, right?

Nonnie's Homemade Meat Sauce
Serves 4-6 adults- Freezes well

• 1 small package dried porcini mushrooms (1/3-1/2 cup)
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 lb ground sirloin
• 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
• salt and pepper
• flat leaf Italian parsley, roughly chopped
• Parmesan cheese

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and keep the mushroom liquid. 

Oops- only picture I got of the mushrooms...

In a large pot over medium heat, brown the sirloin and sausage in 2 TBSP olive oil.  

Add onions, carrots and celery. Cook about 5 minutes, or until vegetables soften. 

Oops, this is where my camera lens started to steam up and I went to order a lens filter...ha no I'm serious!

 

Chop re-hydrated mushrooms into chunks. Add mushrooms, mushroom liquid and garlic to the pot. Cook 2 more minutes. Add both cans of tomatoes and bring sauce to a bubble. Turn heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.  

Mix with some al dente pasta and top with parsley and Parmesan. You can also freeze half of the sauce for another dinner. 

Enjoy!