Ingredients

How to make it

  • Meat prep: put all of the meat into a large mixing bowl. With your fingers, crumble and mix the meat together until it is all completely combined. Pour the white wine over the meat and work it with your fingers again until it is evenly moistened. Set aside.
  • Pestata prep: Put the pancetta and garlic into the food processor and process into a fine paste.
  • Melt butter and oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat And scrape in the pestata. Break up the pestata with a sturdy spoon and stir it around the pan bottom to start rendering the fat. Cook till the fat is rendered about 3-5 minutes. Stir the onions into the fat and cook for a couple of minutes until the onions become translucent.
  • Stir in the carrots , celery and mushrooms and cook until the carrots begin to soften. Move the vegetables over to one side and add the meat. Let the meat sit cooking for a few minutes then stir, toss and spread the meat with a sturdy spoon , mixing the meat into the vegetables.. Make sure to cook all of the pink away from the meat until it begins to release its juices and fat. Liquid will almost cover the meat. Raise the heat a notch and cook until all the liquid has disappeared about thirty to forty minutes. Do not brown the meat or burn the sauce. Now lower the heat and stir the sauce often. Add the milk and cook it till it evaporates. Pour in the red wine, cook 5 to 10 minutes. Clear a spot in the sauce and add the tomato paste, toast for a minute and stir and then cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes.
  • Slosh the cans out with some of the chicken broth and add this to the sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil for 5 minutes more. Pour in 2 cups of hot broth and stir well. Continue to add the chicken broth until the consistency of the sauce is to your desire. Bring the sauce to an active simmer , cover the pan and adjust heat to maintain a slow , steady cook with small bubbles all over the surface. Cook for 3 hours. Check the pot every 20 minutes or so and stir often. Also add broth as needed. The level should reduce one and a half to two cups between additions of broth. Stir often to make sure the bottom doesn't burn. Remove the cover and cook off extra liquid. The sauce is finally done. Taste. You may add salt at this point If you wish. However, the sauce requires a healthy addition of pepper. So freshly grind your pepper at least a tablespoon into the pot. Stir and cook for about 5 more minutes before removing the pan from the heat. If using right away, spoon off the fat from the surface. Otherwise, let the sauce cool completely and then chill it thoroughly and lift off the solidified fat To freeze, package it up in different quantities for your different needs and use within six months.
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Reviews & Comments 3

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    " It was excellent "
    SadiesMom ate it and said...
    I made this two days ago and then made the "My Family's Favorite Lasagna' (from the same cook) using this sauce. Absolutely INCREDIBLE! I made a huge 15" x 12" pan of lasagna and still have enough sauce left to make a 13" x 9" pan, so it really does make a very BIG batch. This is a wonderful recipe that I will make again and again for stuffed pasta shells, eggplant parmesan, etc. Highly recommend this recipe - thank you so much for sharing it with the rest of us!
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  • petunia97 16 years ago
    Wow! I have a new lasagna sauce!!!! this sounds delicious! thanks...
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  • tcpr 16 years ago
    ooooouuuuuu.... Up until about 13 years ago, Thanksgiving meant spaghetti! Not just for me, all of my family(over80 people) would always look forward to the spaghetti! We would have a buffet at my grandma's tiny little house and my Aunt Ida, this tiny little woman from Italy, would always bring spaghetti and meat sauce. It was what we looked forward to and of course her recipe was a secret and to this day her children will not give up the recipe. My cousin's and I have been looking for a recipe to match hers for years. I think that I have found it. Thank you , Thank you. Thank God I am over loaded with fresh tomatoes and I was just getting ready to can them. I am so excited!!!!!
    tanya
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    " It was excellent "
    jenniferbyrdez ate it and said...
    Awesome, marvelous, perfect.
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