Ragu

A quick and easy recipe, which is great prepared in advance, especially when you know there are times when you need to plan for a quick lunch or dinner. It is always a good thing to have in the refrigerator. All you need to do is make some pasta (of course, this too can be made in advance) and heat up what you need. You can also use this sauce in lasagna. This recipe comes from my friend Monica, who works magic into the sauce in her Italian way. Without the meat, this makes a healthy, packed-with-goodness, Tuscan "Pomarola" sauce.

8+ Tbsp good quality olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled
4 ribs celery
4 carrots, peeled 
1 lb (450g) grass-fed ground beef *
1 box (26.45oz/750g) POMI Strained Tomatoes or Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce
1 tsp sea salt
1 handful fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp coconut sugar or GF brown rice syrup (optional)
12 oz (340g) gluten-free pasta, cooked and drained (or Zoodles!)

• Either in a food processor or by hand, finely chop up the onion, celery and carrot. If you have picky eaters, use the food processor so they won’t even know the veggies are there! 
• Coat the bottom of a large saucepan with oil. On medium-high heat, fry the ground beef until brown. Drain fat, if necessary.
• Add chopped mass of onion, celery and sauté for a couple minutes more.
• Add tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and cover and simmer for half an hour to an hour, stirring occasionally. Season with salt.
• Ten minutes before serving, add basil, sugar and more olive oil, for a moist, but chunky sauce. 
• Serve with any pasta with freshly grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese.

VARIATION: Add ½ tsp chili flakes to give it an extra “kick”. I usually add this after giving the kids their portions.

* For a vegan/vegetarian version, substitute the meat with black beans and chopped mushrooms