This recipe demonstrates a very simple way to turn your tomato sauce into an easy meat sauce. There are much more elaborate ways to make meat sauces, but sometimes you can take a few little short cuts and still be left with a delicious outcome. I absolutely love veal, however you can really do this exact recipe with pretty much any type of meat. I am using boneless pieces of veal, but if you have pork, beef, chicken or veal on the bone at home, you can definitely use that. The bone will actually give the sauce more flavor. Simmering meat in sauce like this is a great way to get the pieces very juicy and tender. Use the sauce on anything you’d like then pair with the deliciously tender meat and a salad.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound veal meat, cut into pieces for a stew

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil

• ½ onion, diced

• 3 cloves of garlic, minced

• 2 (28 Ounce) cans crushed or whole San Marzano tomatoes

• leftover parmesan or pecorino cheese rind (optional)

• Small handful of fresh basil

• Small handful of fresh parsley, leaves kept on stem

• Salt

• Pepper

• Red chili pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. Season veal chunks with salt and pepper, set aside.

2. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and then add the onions.

3. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

4. Add garlic and cook another minute or two until fragrant. Do not burn the garlic. Stir in chili flakes and half of the basil, you can keep the basil on the stem.

5. Add one can of tomatoes then fill it halfway with water, pour into the pot. Do the same with the second can. *If you used whole tomatoes, puree in a blender before pouring into the pot.

6. Stir the remaining basil into the sauce, fresh parsley. Drizzle another tablespoon of olive oil over the tomato puree. Add cheese rind, if using. Season with 1-2 teaspoons of salt and a sprinkle of ground black pepper, stir to combine. Turn heat to high and bring to boil.

7. Once it comes to a boil, carefully place the veal pieces into the sauce, gently stir to combine then let the pot come to a light boil again. Once it’s bubbling, lower heat to a simmer, cover slightly with the lid and let cook for at least 90 minutes.

8. Throughout the cooking time, stir occasionally, from the bottom of the pot while scraping the sides as well.

9. After the 90 minutes, carefully taste, add more salt as needed. Tomatoes need a lot of salt, it’s ok to add more than you think.

10. Use the sauce to toss with your favorite pasta, use on a pizza, dip with bread, vegetables, soup...anything you could use tomato sauce for. Serve the tender veal with your dish.

11. The rind adds flavor to the sauce. If you did this step, you can simply discard the rind, or cut up into little chewy cheese bites to eat.

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