A traditional meat sauce with a few not-so-traditional ingredients.

All-Purpose Meat Sauce

Makes 3+ quarts

I grew up eating meat sauce. I personally prefer spaghetti and meatballs but, my parents made meat sauce as it was easier. On a Sunday afternoon, my dad would make a large pot of sauce that after church would be spooned over steaming bowls of angel hair or spaghetti and served topped with a shower of freshly grated Pecorino Romano, garlic bread, and string beans.

This sauce has all of the traditional elements of a meat sauce but enhanced by the flavors of Korea. The use of Korean ingredients does not make this sauce taste particularly Korean rather, enhances the flavors already present making for the best meat sauce I’ve ever had in my life. I am particularly proud of this. I served this with pickles and danmuji on the side as is common with pasta in Korea.

Ingredients

680g (1.5 lbs) ground meat

200ml (1 c) red wine

454g (1.5 large) onion, diced

160g (1 large) carrot, finely diced

90g (7) scallions, diced

10 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 cheongyang or serrano chilis, minced – optional

3.5 T doenjang

1 T Italian seasoning

0.75 t ground black pepper

0.5 t dried thyme

794g (2 - 28oz cans) whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand

50ml (0.25 c) water

3 T mirin

2.5 T soy sauce

1 whole star anise

2 bay leaves

Recipe Know-how

1.      Pour 2 T of olive oil into a large pot over medium-high heat.

• Add the ground meat and cook until well browned.

• Add the wine to deglaze the pot scraping up the browned bits on the bottom. Cook 3-5 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.

• Add the onion, carrot, scallions, garlic and chilis along with 1.5 t kosher salt. Cook 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables being to soften.

• Add the doenjang, Italian seasoning, thyme and pepper. Cook 1 minute.

• Add the tomatoes, mirin, soy, star anise and bay leaves. Using the water, rinse out the cans and add to the pot.

• Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and cook for 90 mins or until reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally.

Taste the sauce, seasoning with salt and sugar as necessary.

2.      Serve tossed through pasta or as the sauce for baked ziti or lasagna.