Meat Sauce

Meat Sauce, generally made by cooking minced meat or meatballs in a spicy gravy, forms an interesting base and binding agent for a variety of pasta dishes.

Preparation Overview of Meat Sauce
Traditionally prepared old-fashioned meat sauce for pasta uses ingredients like tomatoes, cheese, ground beef, mushrooms, spices, herbs, granulated sugar etc. The meat pieces used for making the pasta sauce are tenderized after hours of braising. Truly versatile, hearty and extraordinarily refined, the ingredients may be substituted for another to give the meat sauce the flavor that suits individual palate. While beef and pork are the two most common varieties of meat used in the preparation of these sauces, at times turkey and chicken are also used.

Meat Sauce Recipe Variations

• Bolognese Sauce – This sauce is a popular meat sauce from Bologna and it is prepared using various ground meats like prosciutto, and pancetta. Apart from the meat, unsalted butter, olive oil, onion, carrot, ground beef, salt, dry white wine, milk, freshly grated nutmeg, and canned tomatoes are used in the preparation of this sauce. The sauce is served with fresh pasta especially cheese ravioli or fettuncine. It is garnished with freshly grated Parmesan cheese before serving.

• Tuscan Sausage Ragu – This Italian style meat sauce is prepared by simmering sausages for hours over the slow cooker. The flavor of the sauce is enriched by the addition of tomato sauce and heavy cream towards the end of cooking time. Olive oil, sweet Italian sausage, hot Italian sausage, red onion, celery, garlic cloves, dry red wine, Italian –styled diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and heavy cream are used in the preparation of this sauce.

• Vinceza’s Pasta Sauce – This is another Italian styled meat sauce which is prepared by cooking the meats like ground beef, pork spareribs, and hot Italian sausage with various flavorsome ingredients. The meats are cooked with egg, grated Romano cheese, dry bread crumbs, fresh parsley, salt –pepper, water, olive oil, vegetable oil, tomato puree, chopped onion, and tomato paste. The heartiness of this sauce can be enriched by the addition of some chopped garlic and red wine.

• Big – Batch Beef Sauce – This sauce variant is best to be served over stews, casseroles, during suppers. Big –Batch beef sauce can be prepared atleast couple of days ahead of the serving time and refrigerated. It is prepared using ingredients like ground beef, onions, celery ribs, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms, fresh parsley, salt, oregano, dried basil, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. The sauce is also best to be served during the spaghetti dinner.

• Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs – This meat sauce variant can be termed as all –time classic dish. It is usually served during special family dinners or other memorable occasions due to its tedious preparation techniques. The meatballs are prepared using lean ground beef, bread crumbs, dried parsley, Parmesan cheese, ground black pepper, garlic powder, and beaten egg. Sauce is prepared by combining chopped onions, garlic, olive oil, whole peeled tomatoes, salt, white sugar, bay leaf, tomato paste, dried basil, and ground black pepper. The meat balls are cooked in sauce to complete the dish. The dryness of meatballs can be curbed by adding milk, water or tomato sauce to the meatball mixture.

• Vodka Sauce – This is a gourmet sauce which is usually prepared and served during special occasions. This sauce is usually served with leftover pasta, and is served after garnishing with Parmesan cheese.  It is prepared using vodka, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil, prosciutto, garlic cloves, fresh parsley,  fresh basil, salt-pepper, roma tomatoes, tomato sauce, and heavy cream. The acidity of this sauce can be reduced by adding few teaspoons of sugar.

• Southern –Style Meat Sauce – This sauce variant incorporates essence of cuisines popular in Southern United States. It is prepared using olive oil, onion, garlic, ground beef, tomato paste, tomato sauce, dried oregano, dried basil leaves, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, mushrooms, bay leaves and salt. This sauce is best to be served over garlic bread and spaghetti or over salad.

• Pan Sauce – One or other variation of this sauce is popular throughout the world. It is prepared by combining the drippings of meat, which remains at the bottom of pan after cooking. This sauce is best to be served with meat based dishes. It can prepared in many ways, but the easy recipe is to combine the drippings with cream or olive oil, and stock.

• Turkey Injection Sauce with Herbs, Honey and Spices – This spicy meat sauce is flavored with sage, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. It tastes spicey and sweet. Sometimes garlic is added to the sauce for an extra punch. This injection sauce imparts delicious flavor and smooth texture to chicken, turkey, beef and pork. It is prepared using ingredients like chicken broth, garlic oil, salt, honey, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fresh rosemary, sage leaf, bay leaf, and fresh thyme.

• Bacon Gravy – This sauce is usually served over biscuits. It is prepared by cooking bacon with bacon grease, flour, milk, and salt –pepper.  The gravy tastes good when served hot.

• Buffalo Chicken Sauce – This sauce is prepared using canned chicken, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, blue cheese, hot sauce, milk, white wine, garlic powder, seasoning salt, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, celery ribs, butter, chicken breasts, salt and pepper. Buffalo chicken sauce is usually served after ladling over pasta or freshly cooked rice. The thickness of the sauce can be adjusted by reducing the amount of wine or milk used in its preparation.