Richard’s Famous Nonnie’s Meat Sauce
RICHARD’S FAMOUS NONNIE’S SATURDAY SOUP
Richard’s Famous Nonnie’s Meat Sauce
Make it with:
Richard’s Famous Nonnie’s Kitchen Italian Seasoning and
Richard's Famous Original Garlic Salt
Jeff’s Nonnie, Jean, made the most delicious, aromatic meat sauce. She would make it once a week. Tuesday was typically pasta day.
One day years ago, Jeff’s mom, Virginia, asked Nonnie if she would be willing to share her recipe. Nonnie said “Oh, I don’t have a recipe. I just put in a little of this and that. But you are welcome to watch.” With pencil in hand, Virginia copied down the ingredients and each step. She tweaked it just a bit, and from then on, her kitchen smelled like Nonnie’s every time she made the traditional family meat sauce. Nonnie’s spaghetti with meat sauce is one of our most memorable and beloved meals. Thank you, Nonnie.
Serves 2-3.
Ingredients
2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, finely minced*
1 carrot, finely minced
1 stalk celery, finely minced
1 ½ - 2 lbs. good quality ground beef (Nonnie used 85% lean)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes or whole plum tomatoes, crushed
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce (Nonnie used Hunt’s)
4 T. brown sugar
1 t. Richard’s Famous Nonnie’s Kitchen Italian Seasoning
1 t. Richard's Famous Original Garlic Salt or Salty Sea Garlic Salt
¼ C. half ‘n’ half or milk (or plant-based milk, if desired)
¼ C. grated Parmesan cheese, if desired
Directions
In a large pot (don’t use an aluminum pan as this reacts with the acid in the tomatoes), add olive oil. Turn heat to medium, immediately add onion, celery and carrot. Saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened, about 4 minutes.
Add the ground beef and break up the beef into fine pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Nonnie would press the beef against the side of the pan to make the texture as fine as possible. Continue until the meat is cooked and no pink remains.
Add all other ingredients, except the half ‘n’ half. Bring to a boil then turn heat to low and simmer at least 30 minutes without a lid.
Nonnie would cook hers for a good hour or more. Her house smelled divine. Stir occasionally and check it frequently; add a little water if too much liquid evaporates.
Add the cheese and half ‘n’ half. (This creates a slight creaminess and balances the acidity. You may also use a plant-based milk, if desired). Stir to combine.
Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings, if desired.
If the sauce thickened too much, add a bit of the hot pasta water from your cooked pasta.
Toss some of the sauce into your cooked, drained pasta to coat.
Serve the extra sauce in a gravy boat with ladle to spoon over the top of the pasta at the table as desired. Top with shredded Parmesan cheese.
If you have leftover sauce, use it to make Nonnie’s “Saturday Soup.”
See our recipe.
Notes
*If you are short on time, you can omit the onions, celery and carrots and increase Nonnie’s Kitchen seasoning blend to 2 tsp. total.
*The brand of tomato sauce you use makes a difference in the flavor of the sauce.
* The fat from the cooked hamburger flavors the sauce, but if you want to reduce the amount of fat in your recipe, cook the hamburger in a separate pan and then strain the hamburger in a strainer under hot water to reduce the fat.
*Ground turkey can be substituted for the ground beef if you are limiting red meat in your diet.
* You can also make this sauce without any meat for a tasty marinara.
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