I’m sure you’ve had your share of meat sauces. But you haven’t had this one!! Meat Sauce – Yiayia Foto’s Famous Recipe will make you wonder where it’s been all your life!
From Lizz: I think we can all agree that one of the easiest comfort foods to serve our families is pasta. The beauty is that there are so many options for sauces to pour on top and enjoy your favorite pasta. Meat Sauce – Yiayia Foto’s Famous Recipe is one of our favorites because it’s easy to put together with ingredients you very likely have in your pantry, and not very time consuming. It’s rich in a combination of flavors that is sure to please the palate.
This meat sauce is the creation of my husband’s Yiayia, Foto. This recipe gets it’s deep, rich flavors from a combination of spices that include cinnamon, cumin and allspice. While it does include tomato sauce, it is a moderate amount which allows the other flavors to have a stronger presence.
This sauce is not very time consuming and can be made ahead of time for a large gathering or prepared, portioned and frozen so it’s available for a quick and satisfying dinner for your family during a busy week. Served on top of your favorite pasta with some grated mizithra cheese, this sauce is always a favorite in our home and we’re confident you’ll enjoy it.
This sauce can also be used to make Pastitsio and Moussaka. Look for these recipes coming to Cook Like A Greek soon!
HOW TO MAKE MEAT SAUCE
- Prepare ingredients for Greek Style Meat Sauce
- Melt butter in a 4 quart saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil to melted butter and continue to heat for another minute. Add chopped garlic and onion. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally, careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add lean ground beef to garlic and onion mixture. Break up ground beef with wooden spoon. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low until meat is completely browned.
- Whisk together tomato sauce and tomato paste to form a smooth mixture. Stir tomato mixture into ground beef. Add dry white wine and water; stir again. Add bay leaves, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper. Stir until combined well.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, until sauce is thickened and moisture reduces.
WHAT IF I PREFER THE MEAT SAUCE TO BE THINNER?
Some people may find this meat sauce too thick. If you do, simply add some beef broth to thin it out. I would not add too much, maybe start with 1/4 cup.
BETWEEN THE BUTTER, THE OLIVE OIL AND THE FAT IN THE BEEF, THE SAUCE CAN END UP OILY. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Skim off some of the excess butter, oil, fat before adding the tomato sauce, wine and seasonings. The flavors of the butter and olive oil will still be infused into the meat base of the sauce.
CAN I FREEZE THIS MEAT SAUCE?
This Greek Style Meat Sauce can be easily made ahead of time. You can store it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days or freeze it. Before freezing the meat sauce, allow it to cool completely. Pour the meat sauce into freezer-safe containers or freezer bags. Label with date and contents before storing in freezer. Store meat sauce for up to 6 months.
Meat Sauce – Yiayia Foto’s Famous Recipe
Meat Sauce - Yiayia Foto's Famous Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 lbs lean ground beef
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Melt butter in a 4 quart saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil to melted butter and continue to heat for another minute.
- Add chopped garlic and onion. Cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally careful not to burn the garlic.
- Add lean ground beef to garlic and onion mixture. Break up ground beef with wooden spoon . Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low until meat is completely browned.
- Whisk together tomato sauce and tomato paste to form a smooth mixture. Stir tomato mixture into ground beef. Add dry white wine and water and stir again.
- Add bay leaves, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, salt and pepper. Stir until combined well.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, until sauce is thickened and moisture reduces.
- Serve over your favorite pasta and sprinkle with some freshly grated mizithra cheese.
Nutrition
I’m a 63 year old single man of Greek descent and I love to cook. I also had a Yiayia named Fotini. I enjoy cooking for myself and Friends and have recently learned to make lasagna. now it’s time to make pastitsio! the page for meat sauce in my pasta recipe book got ruined so I found yours online. Thanks I can’t wait to try it.