Author: Thomas

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Italian Meat Sauce

Leigh’s Austrian-born grandmother gave us her meat sauce recipe when we got married in 1985. Grandma’s only had ground beef and garlic powder, but I started adding ground Italian sausage and fresh garlic early on. Over time, I renamed this Italian Meat Sauce – It is very versatile and can be used with any type of pasta or vegetables. I also use it as my meat sauce in my Lasagna. The Lasagna post will follow this one soon, so stay tuned!

Italian Meat Sauce Over Homemade Spaghetti

Italian Meat Sauce Over Zucchini & Summer Squash Spirals
Italian Meat Sauce
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Italian Meat Sauce

Italian Meat Sauce – It is very versatile and can be used with any type of pasta or vegetables. I also use it as my meat sauce in my Lasagna.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Italian Meat Sauce, Italian Sauce, Spagghetti Meat Sauce
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 8 Servings
Author Thomas

Equipment

  • 1 Sauce Pan Large

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Ground Beef (80/20) browned & drained
  • 1 lb. Italian Sausage (Sweet or Spicy) browned & drained
  • 2 tbsp. Olive Oil extra virgin
  • 1 ea. Large Onion (Yellow or White) diced
  • 4 ea. Garlic Cloves minced
  • 4 cans Diced Tomatoes (16oz.)
  • 3 cans Tomato Paste (6oz.)
  • 8 tbsp. Dried Parsley
  • 2 tbsp. Dried Oregano
  • 2 tbsp. Dried Basil
  • 2 tsp. Black Pepper Ground
  • 2 tsp. Kosher Salt

Instructions

  • Add olive oil to large pan on medium heat., add onions and cook until translucent (not browned).
  • Add garlic and cook 3-4 minutes
  • Add ground beef & Italian sausage and brown. Drain of excess fat.
  • Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir well on medium heat.
  • Add herbs and seasonings and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 2-3 hours.
Italian Meat Sauce Ingredients
Fresh Homemade Spaghetti and Fettuccini Pasta

The photo above is the result of my first attempt ever to make homemade pasta. It was incredibly tasty, but I’ll save my post about adventures in pasta making for another day.

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Tom’s New England Clam Chowder

Tom’s New England Clam Chowder

Ok, I love soup and New England Clam Chowder is one of my favorites. After living in Connecticut/New England for a few years I needed to master this soup. After a few attempts and combining about 5 different recipes I think I got down pretty good. This is great in any season, but is always a favorite in the Fall and Winter. One time after moving back to Michigan we hosted a Michigan State-Michigan party to watch the big game, our friend Rob ate 6 bowls of the chowder, after further review he claimed that ‘this soup is fantastic’!

I hope that you enjoy as much as Rob, so here you go.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Large White Onion ; Diced
  • 4 Stalks Celery ; Diced
  • 4 Large Carrots ; Diced
  • 6 tablespoon Butter
  • 3 Bay leaf
  • 2 tablespoons Garlic ; Minced
  • 3 8oz Bottles Clam Juice
  • 1-1/2 pounds Russet potatoes ; Peeled & Diced
  • 2 tablespoons Parsley
    • You can of course use fresh parsley and thyme if you have them available and I prefer to use the fresh, adjust measurements as it takes more fresh herbs than dried.
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dried thyme
  • 6 tablespoons Flour
  • 4-5 Dashes Tabasco sauce
  • 2 Cups Corn ; Roasted
  • 3 Cups Heavy cream
  • 5-6 Slices Bacon ; Cooked & Diced
  • 51 Ounces Clams ; Minced
  • Salt and Pepper ; To Taste

Preparation:


Mirepoix
  • Dice up the Mirepoix, which is fancy word for Carrots, Onions and Celery and are basic starting ingredients for many soups and sauces.
  • Simmer the Mirepoix with the Bay Leaves in 6 Tbs. of Butter until onions are tender over med/high heat (about 10 Min.).
  • While this is simmering, roast Corn in a frying pan with 1 Tbs. of Butter on high heat until the corn browns a little.  I had previously roasted corn on the cob on the grill, cut it off the cob and froze it to use at a later date, today!
  • Add Garlic and simmer (about 3 minutes).
    Add 6 Tbs. of Flour and stir until flour is incorporated and cooked (about 3 minutes).
  • Add Clam Juice (1 bottle at a time) and stir into vegetable mix; it should thicken and become bubbly.
  • Add Clam Juice from the canned Clams, but don’t added the clams yet.
  • Add Potatoes, Corn, Parsley, Thyme & Tabasco and stir until all are incorporated simmer 10-15 minutes over medium heat.
  • Add Clams and 3 cups of Heavy Cream stir and simmer over low/medium heat for 10-15 minutes. (check Potatoes for doneness).
  • Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
Everything’s in the pot… Clam Chowder is finished!
Tom’s New England Clam Chowder!