Simple Meat Sauce

This is one of my favourite recipes for pasta sauce; it’s ‘mmm mmm’ good and only requires a few easy-to-find ingredients. I always double or triple the recipe, so I can freeze some of it for another night.

(This recipe is in a booklet I received by mail from The Beef Information Centre)


Simple Meat Sauce

What you need:

1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil (I use canola)
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup (250 ml) diced vegetables (e.g. zucchini and sweet pepper)
1 lb (500 g) ground beef
1 can (28 oz/796 ml) tomatoes
1 can (5 ½ oz/156 ml) tomato paste
1 tbsp (15 ml) brown sugar
½ tsp (2 ml) dried oregano
Salt and pepper

Preparing the Sauce:

1. Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan using medium heat. Add onion, garlic, vegetables and ground beef; cook, stirring occasionally for 8 – 10 minutes until beef is browned and completely cooked. Drain.

2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and oregano. Break up tomatoes with back of spoon. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a bit more sugar if necessary. Serve over hot pasta. Makes 5 cups (1.24 L)

And enjoy with good company!


Additional information:

- Preparation time: 15 minutes
- Cooking time: 40 minutes

- Nutritional information per cup (250 ml):
    305 calories
    19 g protein
    18 g fat
    20 g carbohydrate