Aunt Margaret's Hearty Meat Sauce

Here is an advantage of being on facebook. Last Friday, I was searching in the find friends section and I found my childhood best friend. That was pretty darn awesome. We talked a lot through posting and then through emails. Of course, food is always a common subject amongst friends and Patty mentioned her Aunt Margaret's Tomato Sauce. I told her to send it on over. Yesterday, I made the sauce and the family had it for dinner. It was delicious. Thanks Patty!!! I hope I got this right.

Ingredients
1 med large onion diced
4-6 garlic cloves minced
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small can of tomato paste or tube
2 35 oz cans for tomato puree or plum tomatoes
1 can of water
Salt
Pepper
Pinch of Sugar
1 Tablespoon of mixed herbs, like Oregano, Basil, etc. your choice
1lb. of browned ground beef
1 chunk of Parmesan cheese, the good stuff

Optional
2 Teaspoons of Hot Pepper Flakes

Directions

Assemble your ingredients:



Brown the ground beef in a dutch oven:



When the ground beef is browned:



Drain while you prepare the other ingredients:



Chop and mince onion and garlic:



Heat the dutch oven to medium high and add olive oil. If using the red pepper flakes, Patty says toss them in now to bring out their heat:



Add diced onion and cook until transparent, 6 minutes:



Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes being careful not to brown the garlic:



Spoon in the can of tomato paste or in my case I squeezed it in:



Saute the paste with the onions and garlic to bring out the flavors of the tomato:



I was using what I had on hand in the pantry so even though Patty uses tomato puree, I used plum tomatoes. I cut them up while in the can with a pair of clean scissors:



Add the plum tomatoes to the dutch oven and continue breaking them up with a potato masher:



Add the water:



The sugar:



The herbs:



The drained ground beef:



And the chunk of parmesan. Also add salt and pepper to taste:





This baby is ready to simmer all afternoon. If it gets too thick, add some chicken broth:



This is what the cheese looks like after simmering for a while. I scrape the cheese off into the pot with a fork:



Time for the pasta. You can use anything you like that goes with a thick sauce. Boil salted water and pour the pasta into the water, cook until al dente:



The sauce is looking good:



Drain the pasta:



And serve. I put some grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil on the hot sauce:



Thanks so much Patty. And thanks to Aunt Margaret!! Enjoy!!