Spaghetti with Sunday Meat Sauce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6 to 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot
• •Large pot for boiling pasta
• •Wooden spoon
• •Ladle

Instructions

1. 1

   Brown the meats

   Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the ground beef and break it into large chunks. Let it sit without stirring for 2 to 3 minutes until a deep brown crust develops on the bottom. Flip and brown the other side. The fond building on your pot's bottom is pure flavor. Transfer the beef to a bowl, leaving the fat behind. Add the sausage meat in pieces and brown the same way, another 4 to 5 minutes. It should smell deeply savory, almost nutty. Transfer to the bowl with the beef.

   Resist the urge to stir constantly. Browning happens through contact with hot metal, not movement.
2. 2

   Build the soffritto

   Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil if the pot looks dry. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Season with a pinch of salt to draw out moisture. Cook, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until the vegetables soften and the onion turns translucent, about 8 minutes. The kitchen will start smelling like Sunday. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Don't let it brown.

3. 3

   Toast the tomato paste

   Push the vegetables to the edges and add the tomato paste to the center of the pot. Let it cook, stirring frequently, until it darkens from bright red to brick red and smells slightly caramelized, about 2 to 3 minutes. This step concentrates the tomato's natural sugars and removes the raw, tinny taste that plagues rushed sauces.

4. 4

   Deglaze with wine

   Pour in the red wine and scrape up every bit of fond from the bottom. Let it simmer vigorously until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. The alcohol will cook off, leaving behind fruit and acidity that brightens the finished sauce.

5. 5

   Add tomatoes and meat

   Crush the San Marzano tomatoes by hand directly into the pot (this gives you better texture than a blender). Add the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, browned meats and any accumulated juices, bay leaves, oregano, red pepper flakes, and the Parmesan rind. Stir to combine. The pot will look like a lot of liquid. Good. It needs time to reduce.

   Save your Parmesan rinds in a freezer bag. They add body and umami to any braise or soup.
6. 6

   Simmer low and slow

   Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer (small bubbles breaking the surface, not a rolling boil). Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and cook for 3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. The sauce will darken and thicken. Fat will pool on the surface, then get stirred back in. By the end, a wooden spoon dragged across the bottom should leave a trail that slowly fills back in. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaves and Parmesan rind.

7. 7

   Finish with basil

   Stir in the torn basil during the final 10 minutes of cooking. Fresh basil added too early turns black and loses its perfume. Added at the end, it blooms.

8. 8

   Cook the spaghetti

   Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt it generously (it should taste like mild seawater). Add the spaghetti and cook until 1 minute shy of the package directions. The pasta will finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve 1 cup of the starchy pasta water before draining.

9. 9

   Marry pasta and sauce

   Add the drained spaghetti directly to the pot of sauce (or work in batches if your pot is small). Toss vigorously over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, adding splashes of pasta water as needed to help the sauce cling to every strand. The starch in the water emulsifies with the fat in the sauce, creating that glossy coating you see in Italian restaurants.

   Italians call this step 'mantecare' and it's what separates great pasta from pasta with sauce dumped on top.
10. 10

    Serve generously

    Divide the pasta among warmed bowls. Spoon extra sauce over the top. Shower with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve immediately. Pass more cheese at the table. This is not food for the timid.

Chef Tips

• •The 80/20 beef ratio matters. Leaner meat produces a dry, mealy sauce. The fat renders out during the long simmer and enriches everything it touches.
• •San Marzano tomatoes are worth seeking out. Grown in volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius, they have lower acidity and sweeter flesh than American canned tomatoes. Look for the DOP seal.
• •Use a wine you'd actually drink. The old rule holds true: if you wouldn't put it in your glass, don't put it in your pot. A basic Chianti or Montepulciano works beautifully.
• •This sauce freezes exceptionally well for up to three months. Portion it into quart containers for weeknight dinners that taste like you spent all day cooking.
• •Pair with a medium-bodied Italian red. Sangiovese, Barbera, or Nero d'Avola all have enough acidity to cut through the richness without overwhelming the tomatoes.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce improves dramatically when made one to two days ahead. Cool completely, refrigerate, and skim any solidified fat from the surface before reheating.
• •Reheat the sauce gently over medium-low heat, adding a splash of water or stock if it has thickened too much.
• •The sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
• •Never sauce the pasta ahead of time. Cook pasta fresh and toss with reheated sauce just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)