Hearty Three Meat Spaghetti Sauce

There are easily a million spaghetti sauce recipes, probably more, so it seems redundant to post yet another one...This one is my favorite though :-) I'm sure there would be an Italian mama or two that would have problems with my recipe or technique, but whatever, I like it like it is :-)

There are also as many types of spaghetti sauce as there are recipes. There's bolognese, which is characterized by the addition of vegetables and cooked for a long time. There's marinara, characterized by no meat. I could go on...the one common theme among most basic spaghetti sauces is a very long cooking time, which allows all of the flavors to really mellow and mingle. I love this, but I also love the freshness of herbs and the brightness of garlic, so I add a little flavor burst at the end with my pesto-lata, which is kind of a cross between pesto and gremolata...again, the Italian mama's are cringing.

You might also be surprised by the addition of beef and vegetable bullion, but I find that it adds a really nice rich complexity to the flavor profile. Just try it! Ingredients:

1/2 pound Ground Beef (I prefer sirloin for the flavor, but really anything somewhat lean is fine) 1/2 pound Ground Pork 1/2 pound Italian sausage (your preference of heat, just don't use the sweet kind) One Yellow Onion, medium diced 4 large or 6 small cloves of garlic, crushed 1 Tbs Fresh Rosemary, chopped finely 1 tsp Fresh Thyme, chopped finely 2 Tbs Tomato Paste 2 tsp beef bullion (better than bullion is all I use) 2 tsp vegetable bullion (again, better than bullion is all I use) this part is optional, but I always use it if I happen to have it. 1 tsp Salt, to taste 1/2 tsp black pepper, to taste 1/2 cup Flat leaf Italian parsley, roughly chopped 1 cup Fresh Basil, roughly chopped (I buy the big box and use most of it between the sauce and pesto) 1 package of white button mushrooms, sliced 1, 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes 2, 28 ounce can of tomato puree (I prefer the Cento brand) 1/2 cup red wine (I normally use whatever I have on hand as long as it's not too sweet. I recommend a nice Cabernet Sauvignon)

Basil Pesto-lata (kind of pesto, kind of gremolata? I like making up words)

1 cup fresh basil leaves 3 cloves garlic 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Pepper 1/2 cup Olive oil (I actually used Avocado oil once and it was delicious) Splash of lemon juice (literally one quick squeeze will do)

Directions:

1. Place your ground meats in a large heavy saucepan and turn heat to high. Begin to brown the meat, crushing it up into pieces as you go. When meat is halfway cooked, add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Finish cooking until the meat is just beginning to brown.

2. Drain most of the fat off of the meat and place back over medium heat.

3. Stir in the tomato paste, rosemary and thyme and continue to cook for an addition 3 minutes. The goal here is to "toast" the tomato paste, to give a deeper roasted tomato flavor, so make sure to stir your meat around during this time.

4. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except wine) and set heat to medium. As soon as the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.

5. While the sauce is simmering, place the pesto ingredients in a blender or food processor (except the oil). Blend on high while drizzling the oil in to make a paste. If you need to add additional oil to get a spoon-able consistency, feel free to do so. Taste and adjust salt as needed. The goal is to have a fresh and garlicky bite at the end of your cooking time,so it should be pretty potent on the garlic and basil side.

6. At the 30 min mark, turn the heat off of your sauce and stir in the wine.

7. Just prior to serving the sauce, stir in the pesto-lata mix.

EnJoy!