Meatsauce and Macaroni

Here in NY there has been an ongoing debate for decades about what to call tomato meat-sauce for pasta. Well, there's a debate on whether to call it pasta or macaroni too, but we'll leave that one alone. As far as the sauce goes, you have your "gravy" or "Sunday gravy" as some folks call it. This is often thought to be the "authentic" Italian terminology among some connoisseurs of the cuisine. I do not agree that all tomato sauce with meat in it is gravy though.

I have made my fair share of gravy over the years. Usually takes about 8 hours or so for me to make up a batch. I have many variations, but the key is to slow-simmer your meats in tomato sauce to the point that all the ingredients are a thick fusion of stewed goodness. With the fats and the flavors melded together it really is a gravy by the time it is done, rather than a sauce, with the meat taking center stage on a tomato base. It's a lot of work and a real treat, but these days it's rare for someone to stand at a pot stirring tomatoes for 8 hours. But then again, who the heck really wants to eat jarred sauce?

Tonight I made a sauce from scratch that was out of this world, and only took maybe two hours rather then 6-8. It wasn't gravy, but it was still tasty and satisfying. The key difference in the flavor profile is that the flavors did not meld together the way they do in gravy. The fresher tomato flavor takes center stage here, distinguishable from the beef. with each ingredient standing up on their own yet playing very nicely together.

Okay, let's get down to it now. Chop half of a large onion. Now take about half of what you have chopped, and begin frying that in the pan with a good dose of olive oil. I just use some middle of the road Filippo Berio cold-pressed as a general purpose olive oil. After the onion gets going and softens up, toss in about a tablespoon full of chopped garlic. You can chop fresh garlic of course, but I keep a big jar of the chopped stuff in my fridge for cheating. Fair notice, it does have a different flavor than fresh, but neither is better or worse. Make sure you don't burn the garlic. Have your tomato ready to add.

Better tomatoes will usually make for a better sauce, but I used some Tuttarosso canned tomatoes that were on sale. Not the best tomats by far, but a step up from the bottom anyhow. We are using whole canned tomatoes, not sauce or chunks, or anything like that. Canneries use the best tomatoes to pack whole, and use the real garbage ones to make puree and paste and so forth. Two cans of regular with the green label, and one blue label can flavored with basil, which is a bit larger. Or maybe 4 regular-sized cans if that's what you have.

Hand crush the first can of tomato into the sizzling onion and garlic. The tomatoes are juicy enough on their own, so you will not need the juice in the can. Drain off the tomato juice beforehand. Discard or use for something else. I just drank mine while I was cooking. If I was making gravy, I would not pour off the tomato juice and instead let it simmer off. But since we aren't cooking the sauce for 8 hours, it would be way too watery if you used all the juice in the sauce. Better quality tomatoes will often be packed in much thicker puree rather than watery tomato juice. You may not want to waste that, adjust accordingly. Fry those tomatoes in the olive oil for a bit until they thicken up some. That's going to be the real trick here. Keep stirring and frying on high heat, allowing the tomato to reduce and sort of  "ripen" against the heat.

Now we are going to pour in a good dose of red wine. Maybe about a cup and half to two cups I suppose. You don't need a pretentious fancy wine, especially for cooking, but use something you like the taste of. I like Carlo Rossi Paisano wine. Add a sprinkle of sugar, maybe a tablespoonful. Let that all reduce a little now, and then we can go ahead and start adding the next can of tomato. One at a time, I hand crushed from the larger can this time. Keep stirring and reducing.

After I got through two of the cans, I added the rest of the onion, another spoonful of garlic and another big splash of wine, maybe about a cup or so this time. The fresh onion will add a bit more zip, but will also act as a marker of sorts. You will see them soften up and become a bit translucent as they cook down, giving you an idea of how well cooked your tomato is becoming as you hand crush the tomats from your last can. You really want to cook out that canned flavor and get the sauce to thicken up. When the fresher onion doesn't look much different from the onion we started with, you're about there.

If you continue to reduce a bit longer and then season, you would have a nice chunky marinara. But we are taking it to the next level here to make it a meat sauce. So leave it a little juicy still for a final reduction in a moment.

Fry ground beef, well-seasoned with salt and pepper. I find that cooking partially frozen ground beef makes it a little more tender. Put a lid on it and cook over medium heat for a bit. Once it is all softened, break it up well and finish browning. A second round of seasoning may be in order too once the meat is all broken up. A very lean ground beef should not need to be drained. I used an 80% and drained off maybe about a third of the fats and juices from the pan. A pound and a half of meat, maybe two pounds, should be enough.

Now we are going to throw the meat in with the tomato, and continue to reduce. Let the tomato and the meat meld a bit and continue to reduce. I left it on high heat the entire time and just kept stirring. Didn't cover or simmer at all, just kept frying it all.

Don't season too early, or your herbs will scorch and lose their flavor entirely. Fresh might be better, but I used dried herbs. Easier to keep on hand. Parsley, basil, and oregano. I like to go a little heavier on the oregano. You might also like to add some zip with some crushed red pepper.

Once it is reduced to the texture and thickness you like, it's ready to be served over your favorite shape of macaroni. I decided to leave the sauce a little bit juicy still, and did a final reduction with the macaroni right in the sauce to suck up the last of the juices. I used penne and cheese tortellini together for a special treat. Boil the pasta like you normally would, but leave it a little more firm than you would normally serve it. Add the pasta to sauce, and let the last of the juices cook into the macaroni a bit. 

Serve with grated cheese, maybe some garlic bread, after a nice green salad or perhaps with some olives and grapes.

Here is your shopping list:

Whole canned tomatoes, ground beef, onion, garlic, olive oil, macaroni, herbs and spices.