Spaghetti with Meat Sauce – Authentic Italian Style

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 medium carrot, finely grated, about 1/2 cup
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced, about 1/2 cup
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 cans crushed Roma tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp dried sage
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 – 1 cup chicken or beef broth, to thin sauce if desired
• Freshly, finely grated Romano and Parmesan cheese or Mizithra cheese for serving

Directions

1. Warm 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick sauce pot set over medium high heat. Add the ground beef in crumbles, aiming for approximately 1 inch pieces, and cook it until no longer pink, stirring now and then and breaking it apart as you go. Pour off the excess fat, but leave 1 Tbsp fat in the pot. Transfer the cooked beef to a food processor, pulse until the texture is fine, about 10 – 15 seconds, and set it aside.
2. Using the fat left in the pot, cook the carrot and onion over medium high heat until they turn golden, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic during the last minute so it softens without scorching. Take the pot off the heat to help prevent splattering, then mix in the 2 cans crushed Roma tomatoes, the remaining 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, the basil, parsley, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, sage, bay leaves, salt, pepper and the finely ground beef.
3. Set the pot back over low heat and let the sauce simmer uncovered for 5 – 8 hours, stirring from time to time. Do not go under the minimum of 5 hours. Around 4 hours, the sauce will be quite thick, so stir in broth if you would like a looser consistency. Once it is as thick as you want it, you can cover the pot with a lid to slow down additional reduction.
4. Discard the bay leaves. Serve the sauce warm over pasta, finished with grated cheeses and extra chopped fresh parsley or basil if desired.