What's better than vacationing in wine country? Just imagine it... surrounded with greenery and amazing views of the vineyards, so peaceful and relaxing, a wine glass in your hand, and amazing food. It is one of my favorite vacation spots in the world. I'm blessed to have family that live there, which makes me visit pretty often. On my trip to Italy in the Summer of 2011, I stayed in a little town outside of Florence, or should I say Firenze, right in the middle of Tuscany, called Pistoia! There, I learned the Tuscan recipe for a classic meat sauce from my aunt.
This recipe is so amazing you are going to want to put it on everything. I not only use it on my pasta, I love this sauce on spaghetti squash as well. I also love dipping artisan, crusty bread in it. It is so easy to make, about 15-20 minutes of actually working on it & the rest of the time it cooks itself! The essence of ragout sauce is that it needs to cook for a very long time! It's good to make ahead and can stay in the refrigerator for a week (just put it in mason jars and seal ! And the bonus is.... you don't have to throw away those open bottles of red wine that you couldn't finish. Save those, they are perfect for this recipe.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion
1 lbs ground beef
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper
1 cup (or more) red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 tomatoes, freshly pureed
2 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup (or more) heavy whipping cream
Directions:
Heat oil and add red onions and saute.
Add ground beef to pot and cook till browned.
Once the beef is ready, add salt, red pepper, and black pepper. Mix well!
Add red wine, remember the more the merrier, and let boil.
Add tomato paste and tomato puree and water. Mix well to dilute the paste. Bring to boil again!
Add in the cubes of beef bouillon and lower heat. Simmer on low heat for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
In the meantime, boil pasta of choice according to directions on box till al dente. Drain & set aside. (It's best to do this within the last 1/2 hour of the pasta sauce.)
Once the sauce is cooked, add in heavy whipping cream and pasta. Enjoy!
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #EATDRINKPLAYLA. I'd love to see how yours turned out!