This recipe is for a very large batch of meat sauce that you can use for a variety of dishes. It's not your traditional bolognese though I take some of the techniques from the one I use. This meat sauce came out of the need to cook something for my kids with ground beef. While they both eat plenty of vegetables I like a one pot meal where I can include lots of veggies, and so this is more like a goulash or a stew. Actually, the first time I made this I called it hamburger helper and showed my daughter an old ad for the boxed dish on YouTube. She got pretty excited. I even simmered the macaroni with the sauce, a bit of cream and lots of shredded cheddar. I had fully intended this dish to only be for the kids but after my husband devoured a bowl I was happy I had a recipe for the whole family to enjoy. Find yourself a lazy Sunday and make a batch of this. I'll also share the recipe below for some stuffed shells I made with this sauce.
1 medium zucchini
2 cups baby spinach
4 medium carrots
3 ribs celery
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
2 lbs ground beef
12 oz tomato paste
1/4 cup basil pesto
In a food processor, pulse celery, onion, garlic, zucchini, carrots and spinach until pureed. You may need to do this in two batches. Coat the base of a dutch oven with olive oil and heat on medium. Dump veggie puree in and let cook down. This will take about 20 minutes. You want all the water to cook out. Season with some salt and pepper during this process. When the vegetables are cooked down add in the beef and really, really brown it well. Season with salt and pepper. Once the meat is browned add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes or so. Now you want to pour in a few cups of water and let this simmer for an hour, and then add more water once it has cooked down and essentially keep doing this all afternoon. What, you have other things to do? Just kidding, I know, we are all busy and of course you need to be home for this but you don't have to be standing in the kitchen the whole time. Once the sauce is deep and rich I like to stir in some basil pesto but you could also add in your preferred seasoning like some thyme or other herbs. As I mentioned, for the hamburger helper I boil macaroni until it still has quite a bite to it, and then I drain the water and let the pasta simmer with lots of sauce. I add some milk or cream and let it soak that up, and then shred in some cheese and stir off the heat until the melts. Here is what I did later in the week with the sauce:
1 large bunch kale (any variety)
1/4 c basil pesto
12 oz ricotta cheese
1 clove garlic
1 egg
jumbo shells (about 20 shells)
mozzarella cheese (about 12 slices from a fresh log)
Wash kale and remove ribs. In a food processor, pulse ricotta, kale leaves, garlic, pesto and egg until pureed. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper and pulse again. Cook jumbo shells in a large pot of boiling water until it still has quite a bite to it. Let cool. In a casserole pan coat the bottom with olive oil and then the meat sauce, being as generous as you wish. Spoon the kale ricotta filling into the shells and place on top of the meat sauce. Once you are done spoon more meat sauce over the top of the shells, and then layer with slices of cheese. This doesn't need to be followed exactly, if you have shredded, dry cheese that would work as well. Bake at 350 covered with foil for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10. I had a small amount of the ricotta filling left after assembling the shells. I used it as a base for a pizza I made later in the week.
