Simple Meat Sauce 2
No measuring, only eyeballing!
Today I made a double batch of my meat sauce, knowing that the second half would find its way into something else later in the week, gemista, stuffed vegetables, or maybe even a lasagna.
We usually buy good-quality minced beef from our local supermarket, but this time, without realising, we picked up a pack of minced lamb as well. It turned out to be a rather lovely surprise.
So I tweaked the sauce to suit the lamb.
Instead of carrot and celery, I used a long sweet green pepper, added a little cumin and an extra pinch of cinnamon, skipped the allspice altogether, and gave the sauce a more summery feel. Rather than grating fresh tomatoes—which I normally love doing and then gently mashing into the sauce as they cook—I reached for a tin of whole cherry tomatoes. I was simply too tired, and sometimes that’s exactly what tins are for. Along with the tomatoes went two heaped tablespoons of double-concentrated tomato purée, a splash of sherry vinegar, and three bay leaves.
The lamb was around 20% fat, which made the sauce wonderfully soft and juicy. It didn’t need nearly as much water as my usual beef version, as the fat slowly melted into the sauce while it simmered.
I used 400g minced beef and 400g minced lamb, and let the lamb lead the way with the flavours.
I started by gently cooking two medium chopped brown onion, four garlic cloves, and a long sweet green pepper in a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil. Tossed two heaped double-concentrated tomato purée, a teaspoon of ground cumin, a generous teaspoon of sweet paprika, and a few pinches of cinnamon, and three dried bay leaves. Cooked everyhting over a medium heat.
Once the vegetables had started softened, I added the beef and lamb. Seasoned with salt and I let the meat brown properly, stirring every so often until little caramelised bits began catching on the bottom of the pan. That’s where all the flavour lives.
Next came a splash of sherry vinegar, followed by a tin of whole cherry tomatoes.
I added just enough water to loosen the sauce and let it simmer gently for about an hour, stirring now and then until everything had melted together.
To finish, I tasted for salt, added plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and one last generous drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil.
We tossed it through pasta and finished it with lots of grated kefalograviera. Jolly good!
Big love, Despina xxx