How to Make the Ultimate Homemade Tomato Sauce

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Published on January 16, 2009

The following is a recipe for a truly sensational tomato sauce (with meat!). Now, before everyone loses their minds and thinks that tomato sauce is only good atop a mound of carbohydrate-laden pasta, we’d like to remind you of its multiple uses.

This tomato sauce, for example, makes a great addition to eggplant for a variation on eggplant parmesan (with or without the actual parmesan). I personally like it on any number of different vegetables or even on a grilled steak. Another great use for this type of sauce? An Italian-inspired filling for omelets (just limit the amount to two or three spoonfuls or you’ll make a royal mess!)

And, if you still say a tomato sauce should only ever be served with spaghetti, we could even agree… but only if you’re talking about ultra-delicious spaghetti squash.

Although fresh is almost always best we’ve gone the canned tomato route with this recipe to cut the cooking time by a couple hours. Lucky for us, it turns out that canned tomatoes are a very healthy and sensible alternative to fresh tomatoes.

Now on to the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium white onion, diced
1 red and yellow bell pepper, diced
2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
1 tbs. rosemary chopped
1 tsp. thyme chopped
1 can 28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 can 28 oz. diced tomatoes
1 can 6 oz. tomato paste
½ cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 cup red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. chili pepper flakes
1 bay leaf

Optional add-ins:
Mushrooms, zucchini or spinach

Method:
Coat pan with olive oil and add ground beef, onions, bell peppers, garlic, rosemary and thyme. Saute until ground beef turns brown. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer. With a dish like this, patience is a virtue – the longer it simmers, the longer it gives the ingredients to mingle, creating a more robust, flavorful sauce.

Nutrition Analysis:
Divided into six hearty portions, the nutritional breakdown per serving, courtesy of our friends over at FitDay.com, is as follows:

Calories: 334.8
Fat (again, who really cares, but still): 16.1 grams (~43% calories from fat)
Carbohydrate: 23.0 grams (~27% calories from carbs)
Fiber: 5.5 grams
Net Carbs: 17.5 grams
Protein: 23.6 grams (~28% calories from protein)

Share your ideas for Primal applications of this delicious sauce in the comment boards, and report back when you’ve tried it!