How to Make the Ultimate Homemade Tomato Sauce

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!

Jake Sutton Flickr Photo (CC)

Further Reading:

Winter Chili for a Chilly Winter

Oprah Hits 200 Lbs. Again.

More Primal Recipes

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