Recipe - Meat Sauce

One half cup Olio di arrosto*
1 Onion; medium, quartered
1 Carrot; peeled & cut up
1 Celery stalk;strings removed
and cut up
1 Italian parsley sprig
1 pound Ground beef;lean
One half cup White wine, dry
2/3 cup Tomato paste
1 One half cup Beef stock or water
salt

OLIO DI ARROSTO
One half cup Olive oil
1 Garlic clove;large, lightly
crushed
1 teaspoon Rosemary; dried OR
1 4" branch rosemary
1 teaspoon Sage, dried; OR
2 Sage, fresh leaves;up to 3
One fourth teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Olio di Arrosto: Heat the oil with all the other ingredients and cook,
stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes or until garlic is quite brown. Add a few
drops of water or white to produce the steam which will bind the flavours
to the oil. Remove from heat and let cool. Discard the garlic and fresh
herbs by simply lifting them with a fork. If you used dried herbs, strain
the oil, but be sure that the salt and pepper are not removed. Note: You
may add a shank bone or any other bone for a more authentic flavor. YIELDS:
One half CUP Meat Sauce: (Sugo di Carne) Place the olio di arrosto in a large
saucepan. Chop onion, carrot, celery, and parsley together, very fine. Add
to saucepan, with oil and lightly brown for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring
occasionally.
Add meat and brown thoroughly, stirring frequently.
Add wine and raise the heat to let the wine evaporate completely.
Add the tomato paste and cook over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring
frequently.
Add beef stock or water and cook, covered, over very low heat for One half hour
to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste. Sauce should be
nice and thick, if it looks too liquid, cook it a few minutes longer till
it loses its excess liquid. YIELDS 3 CUPS; SERVES:6

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini