Meat Sauce 101

 
      1 pound ground beef, turkey, chicken or bulk
         sausage or a combination of any
     ½ medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
      1 tablespoon chopped parsley
      1 teaspoon chopped basil
      1 teaspoon chopped oregano 		      1 teaspoon salt
     ½ teaspoon black pepper
     1 (14 ½ ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
     1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms or stems and pieces with juice or ¼
        pound fresh button mushrooms, sliced  
 

Brown meat in heavy skillet.  Drain off fat.  Add onion, garlic and spices. Cook until onions are translucent.  Add tomatoes and mushrooms; simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Add water if needed.  Adjust seasoning.  (At this point you can freeze sauce to use later.)

Serve over cooked spaghetti or any pasta.  Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Variations

French Bread Pizza

Preheat oven to 375 °.

Cook meat sauce uncovered during last half hour to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.  Slice a large loaf of French bread in half lengthwise.  Place bread halves crust side down on baking sheet.  (If necessary, cut off some slivers off the pointed crust from the top half so it will lay flat on the pan.)  Spread one half meat sauce over cut sides of each piece of bread.  Combine 1 cup grated mozzarella and 1 cup grated cheddar cheese and sprinkle 1 cup of mixture evenly over meat sauce.  Sprinkle each half with 2 tablespoons of finely grated Parmesan cheese.

Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes until cheese starts to bubble and brown on top.

Tamale Pie

Preheat oven to 325°.

Spray or oil sides and bottom of 2 to 2 ½ quart oven proof dish.  (Use a dish that is about 3 ½ inches deep for best results.)  Drain water from 6 ounce can of pitted ripe olives.  Grate 1 ¾ cups of Cheddar cheese or use half Cheddar and half Monterey Jack.

Spread ⅓ of meat sauce on bottom of dish.  Add a 1 inch layer of coarsely crushed corn chips followed by ⅓ of the olives and ½ cup of cheese.  Repeat another layer of meat, corn chips, olives and cheese.  Add remainder of meat sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup of cheese.  Bake covered about 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 5 minutes until cheese begins to turn brown.  Cooking time may vary depending upon the depth of the baking dish.  Test to make sure cheese is melted and the ingredients are hot in the center.

Sloppy Joes

Cook meat sauce uncovered during last half hour to allow some of the liquid to evaporate.  Heat hamburger buns and spread bottom half with meat sauce.  Cover with top half of bun.  Grab a few napkins and enjoy.

Artichoke Stew

Place meat sauce in Dutch oven-type pan.  Add 1 cup converted rice and 2 cups water.  Turn heat to high and bring to a boil.  Add 1 (13 ¾ ounce) can of artichoke hearts cut in quarters.  Include juice from artichokes.  Cover and simmer until rice is done, about 20 minutes.
 

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© 2007
Carleta S. Vineys