Meat Sauce w/ Fresh Tomatoes, All Day Sauce

After reading this last week (Canned Tomatoes Cause Cancer) I nearly cried knowing that I've been slowly killing myself and family for years. I tend to hate jarred sauces so....fresh-homemade it is! It's work but anything good is worth while. It's probably best to take a whole morning and make a huge batch, and then freeze some for later since it's "simple" but time consuming.

What I made today is what I call an "All Day Sauce" and I don't need to tell you why or how long it takes to make. The longer the meat and the sauce stews, the better it tastes. I find 8 hours to be perfect, but you need a minimum of 3 hours for it to really be worth while. That's the cooking time by the way, not the prep time :-)

What you'll need:
28 or so Roma Tomatoes (Minimum, serves approx 4 people)
1 lb lean ground beef (Or sausage, or a combo of both (1/2 lb each)
Olive Oil
Yellow Onion
Garlic
Bay Leaf
Spices (Salt, Pepper, Onion/Garlic Powders, Paprika, Oregano, Italian Seasoning, Parsley, Basil...all dried and to taste. I add about 1 teaspoon of each herb and spice, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper)
Bell peppers (Optional, I chose not to use them)
Red Wine
*Red pepper flakes, optional
Fresh Basil for garnish

What you'll do:
First you score and blanch your Roma tomatoes. That means you gently cut little slits into the tomato (I do four) and then boil for about 1 minute. Don't boil all of them at once, I did four at a time. Once they boil to loosen the skins, remove from the water using a spider or slotted spoon and add to an ice bath (This is called blanching). You may notice that the boiling process alone may remove most of the skins.

Lovely fresh Roma tomatoes work best for fresh marina and meat sauce

Score the tomato to help loosen the skin

Add four or so at a time to boiling water for about one minute

Remove and add to an ice bath, then peel with a knife or even your hands (I use my hands) the skin

Blanched tomatoes ready to be skinned

Once they are peeled, slice them in half, very carefully, and then remove the seeds. The seeds hold a lot of water and the sauce will end up being tomato juice otherwise. I like mine just a 'tad' runny so I keep the seeds of maybe 3 tomatoes and remove the juice and seeds from the rest. Then squash the flesh with your hands.

Remove all of the seeds from the tomatoes, if you like your sauce a little thin, keep 'some' seeds from a few tomatoes

Squash and crush them and place in a bowl

After you've squashed them, you'll need a little help from a potato masher to finish the job. (Or use a blender/food processor)

Time to crush!

Crush, crush, crush!

Fresh crushed tomatoes! So vibrant! 

Congratulations! You made crushed tomatoes! Now, let's make the meat sauce. I like to start by dicing a yellow onion. I use a pretty large stock pot over medium-heat and add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. After I add the diced onion, I season it with just pepper and the bay leaf. (If you're adding bell peppers, add them with the onions) Then I start to mince my garlic. After the onion has been sauteing for 5 minutes and are becoming translucent, I add the garlic and a pinch of salt. Since you don't want the garlic to overcook, I just let it saute with the onions for about 3 minutes. Then I remove the onions & garlic from the pan.

Saute the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil, add salt, pepper, and bay leaf

I use the leanest ground beef I can find

I like to season every layer, so I season the beef & the sauce. I'll season the beef with these, & salt & pepper

Once the beef is cooked, I add the onion & garlic back to the pot

Season the ground beef with salt, pepper, onion/garlic powder, Italian Seasoning, parsley, and paprika, to taste. Once it's browned add the onions and garlic back in. I also add about 1/8th a cup of red wine to the beef at this point.

Always choose a good wine that you'd drink! If you don't want to add wine, add a little beef stock/broth

Now it's time to add your delicious crushed tomatoes! Once they are added, they must be seasoned with all of the same seasonings mentioned above, all to taste. If you want to add some red pepper flakes, add them now.

This fresh, homemade sauce is SO BRIGHT!

Season your sauce well...I start with a pinch of salt

Lots of herbs and then add more wine if you like, 1/4 cup total

Once it's all seasoned, you've made sauce! I bring it to a bubble and then lower to a simmer. Now you have a choice, you can put the lid on and let it simmer for 3-8 hours on the stove-top, or transfer it to a crock-pot set to low. Crock-pot works great for this!

I like a thick, ridged noodle for meat sauce, a rigatoni noodle. Add some fresh basil at the end and enjoy!