Ingredients
Meat sauce:
- 6 ounces thick sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 whole star anise pod
- 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, 3 minced and 2 sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 8 ounces coarsely ground beef chuck
- 8 ounces coarsely ground pork butt
- 1 1/4 cups white wine, divided
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 3 cups beef broth
- 1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms, finely chopped
- 2 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoons dried marjoram
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
Pasta:
- 1 gallon water
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1/2 pound dry spaghetti
Directions
For the meat sauce:
Place an 8-quart Dutch oven over low heat and add the bacon. Cook slowly until the bacon is crispy and has rendered its fat, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the bacon from the pan for another use. Add the onion, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Place the clove and star anise into a small spice bag, add to the Dutch oven and stir to combine. Cook, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions caramelize, 45 to 60 minutes. Add the celery and the 3 cloves of minced garlic to the pan and continue to cook over low heat until the celery is semi-translucent, approximately 30 minutes. Remove the spice bag from the pot.
Meanwhile, place a wide 4-quart saute pan, over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and once it shimmers, add the beef chuck and the pork butt and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat is well browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a colander to drain. Return the pan to high heat, add 1/2 cup of the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Transfer these bits and any remaining wine to the Dutch oven along with the meat.
Add another 1/2 cup of the wine, evaporated milk, beef broth, and mushrooms to the Dutch oven and stir to combine. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours.
Once the sauce has been cooking for 1 1/2 hours, place the 4-quart saute pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once it shimmers, add the 2 cloves of sliced garlic and cook for 30 to 45 seconds or until fragrant. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, and marjoram and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, approximately 30 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup wine, tomato paste, ketchup, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine. Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high; add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer the tomato mixture to the meat mixture and stir to combine. Simmer the sauce, uncovered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, while preparing the pasta.
For the pasta:
Bring the water and salt to a boil over high heat. Carefully add the pasta, stirring quickly to separate. Cover and return to a boil, being careful that the water does not boil over. Once boiling again, uncover and continue to cook until slightly less than al dente, 5 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander.
Add the pasta to the meat sauce and cook, over low heat, for another 2 to 3 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Transfer pasta and sauce to a serving bowl or individual bowls and serve.
Photo: Meat Sauce and Spaghetti Recipe

















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By Chef #1097055
Canyon Lake, TX
on June 05, 2013
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I'm with Jonesattack, I changed a few things, mostly ingredients I left things out or didn't have on hand and gave it 5 stars. Great basic meat sauce recipe and it would stand well on its own, as is. I left out the bacon only because I've cut back on that meat. I didn't have the anise or mushrooms on hand so they were left behind. I used a courgette that was going south and those worked great. I only used ground beef; I didn't have ground pork. You could try lamb with the ground beef as lamb stands up well cooked for long periods of time. I like the taste and I will continue to use this recipe. I wouldn't use milk as it tends to curdle and this is why the chef chose evaporated milk. 2% or skim "Blue John" is totally not suited for much except to drink and I question even that!
By Jonesattack
Athens, GA
on May 17, 2013
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I am rating this five stars only because I don't want to be one of those people that gives a recipe a bad rating and then goes on to say they changed 50 things..that would be lame. I tried to make a healthier version of this, using olive oil instead of bacon fat and ground turkey instead of the beef and pork. I really should have known better..the turkey doesn't benefit from cooking this long at all, really, plus this method of cooking the tomatoes make them very sweet and ketchupy..with the big flavors of pork and beef it might work, but with turkey it overwhelms. If you are looking for some lean meat sauce I would try something else, or make this recipe as written. Also..I can't believe how many people complain about the milk curdling when it clearly says to use evaporated milk. Don't you think there was a reason for that?
By ChefNate700
on April 21, 2013
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This recipe is pretty good but requires some tweeking. 3 cups of beef broth is way too much, it dilutes the flavor and makes the sauce watery, use 1 to 1 1/2 cups instead. Same with the wine, take it easy, 3/4 cups is about right. I tried adding the evaporated milk, it soured the flavor. These are my taste preferences but I've been working with this recipe for about a year and have tried many different versions based on this recipe. Half beef broth and half chicken broth makes for a little more depth of flavor.
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