Red Meat Sauce

Yield

• Servings: 4
• Serving size: 1/4 recipe (~300 g sauce)
• Total yield: Serves 4

Time

• Prep: 10 min
• Cook: 45 min
• Total: 55 min

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil: 2 Tbsp + 1–2 tsp — divided; finish off heat
• Ground beef: 1 lb — Use 80/20 beef. Optionally replace 1/2 lb beef with pork.
• Onion: 1 medium — finely chopped
• Garlic: 2–3 cloves — minced
• Tomato paste: 2 Tbsp
• Dry red wine: 1/2 cup — optional
• Crushed tomatoes: 1 (28 oz) can
• Bay leaf: 1
• Fine salt: 1–1⅓ tsp — plus more to taste
• Black pepper: to taste
• Chili flakes: 1/8–1/4 tsp
• Fish sauce: 1 tsp
• Butter or Parmigiano-Reggiano: 1–2 Tbsp — to finish

Instructions

Cook in a stainless steel sauté pan.

1. Brown the meat

• Brown the ground meat in the sauté pan that the sauce will be finished in.

See: Ground Meat Browning Techniques

2. Aromatics & paste

• In the rendered fat, soften onion.
• Add garlic and chili flakes (1/8–1/4 tsp); cook 30 s.
• Stir in tomato paste until dark brick-red; cook 2-3 min.

3. Deglaze

• Add wine (if using); scrape up fond; reduce until nearly dry.

4. Base & simmer

• Add crushed tomatoes; if very thick, add 1/2–2/3 cup water.
• Add bay leaf and return the browned meat.
• Add 1 tsp fish sauce.
• Bring to a gentle simmer. Partially cover and cook 30–45 min, stirring occasionally.
  • For deeper flavor, simmer up to 150 min on very low heat; add water as needed to keep the sauce loose.
  • For long simmers (≥90 min), refresh with 1/4–1/2 tsp fish sauce in the last 2–3 minutes.
• Simmer gently for 10-20 min uncovered to reduce and concentrate sauce.
  • Done cues:
    • Coats the back of a spoon (nappe) and leaves tiny orange oil pools.
    • A spatula dragged across the pan leaves a trail that closes in ~2–3 seconds.
    • Taste is intense without sharp acidity.

5. Finish the sauce

• Remove sauce from heat.
• Adjust salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf.
  • Add 2-4 Tbsp pasta water before adding more salt to judge real salinity.
• Add 1-2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil.

Notes / Make-ahead / Variations

• Swap in part pork for beef for a richer sauce.
• Add a sprig of basil or oregano in the last 10 minutes; remove before serving.
• Sauce keeps 4 days refrigerated; freezes up to 3 months.

Nutrition

Nutrient	Full Recipe	Per Serving (1/4 recipe (~300 g sauce))
Calories	1780	445
Protein	94 g	23.5 g
Fat	124 g	31 g
Carbs	75.6 g	18.9 g
Fiber	16.8 g	4.2 g
Sugars	45.6 g	11.4 g
Sodium	4144 mg	1036 mg