It really is that good.
I first had this meat sauce…hm… sometime last winter, I think. I wanted to make lasagna for dinner, and was debating making a lasagna different from my usual one. After searching around on a few websites and chatting with a few people, I settled on the recipe for World’s Best Lasagna found on Allrecipes.com. It said world’s best in the title, and I just had to know what someone considered the world’s best. There are a lot of lasagnas out there! I did try it, and while the lasagna was very delicious, and one I would make again, it really was the slow cooked meat sauce that stood out for me. It was rich, full of depth and seasonings and tomato flavor. I wanted to just sit and eat that sauce with a spoon!
Fast forward to last week. I took Abigail to the grocery store with me and my bargain shopper spotted a coupon on the shelf to buy 4 boxes of Barilla pasta and get 1 free. She insisted we do so, so I let her choose which pastas we took home. When she saw the ginormous box of large shells for stuffing, she lit up and asked what you would do with such large shells. I realized then and there that it had been a long time since I made stuffed shells, and purposed to do so within the next few days.
The shells were easy enough. I literally mixed up equal proportions of cottage cheese, mozarella cheese and a good aged parmesan, added fresh parsley, basil, garlic and pepper and stuffed the shells with that. The sauce though… I decided to make the sauce from that lasagna with a few minor modifications. It was just as delicious as I’d remembered. Our only problem that night was that I made a small pan of stuffed shells and Zander discovered a new favorite food. Those shells were gone in no time.
You can multiply this meat sauce and make a huge pot of it, then cool and freeze in family size portions to pull out for whatever you need. It’s great for lasagna and stuffed pasta, but equally delicious as a quick topping for spaghetti. It pretty much cooks itself once you have it all in the pot, so there is little effort and a big payout in the end. Vary up the ground meats that you use too. I’ve been making my own Italian sausage, so what I did this time was use two pounds of ground pork, and then I added the spices I use for the Italian sausage. Obviously you could buy good sausage (hot or sweet as you prefer), use ground beef, pork, lamb or venison. I’m not so sure ground poultry would work as well, but it would be worth a shot if that’s what you usually use.
Just one note about the ingredients. Do find the fennel seed and use it- it truly adds something to this marinara. It’s not a large quantity, and you can’t pick out the fennel, but I do notice the depth it contributes to the sauce.
Marinara With Meat Sauce
1 pound Italian sausage (bulk, or squeezed out of the casings) 1 pound ground pork or beef 1 medium onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce 1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (crushed in a mortar & pestle) 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 2 teaspoons salt freshly ground black pepper to taste 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsleyDirections:
In a large pot, brown the meats over medium heat until nicely browned. Drain off any accumulated fat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until the onions have softened a touch.
Add everything else to the pot. Keep heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
One recipe makes enough for two pans of lasagna.