You want an impressive, meaty tomato-based sauce? I made this last night (for a party of 8) ... it was incredible. Be prepared to spend several hours with it. The website belongs to a friend of mine.
http://edibletherapy.typepad.com/edi...nd-sweet-.html
Quote:
Beef and Sweet Italian Sausage Ragu
serves ten
3 pounds sirloin top round steak, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 bay leaf
1 bottle red wine (we used a 2004 Cotes du Ventoux Rouge), for marinating and also for the sauce
2 pounds sweet italian sausage, removed from its casings
6 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
5 ribs celery, cut to a small dice
2 white onions, diced small
3 carrots, peeled and diced small
5 T butter
3 T olive oil
2 t salt
1 t crushed red pepper flakes
3 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes
Marinate the beef in the bay leaf and red wine just to cover for one hour.
Saute the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and sausage in olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about fifteen minutes. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage while it is cooking. Season with the salt and crushed red pepper.
Remove the beef from the red wine and discard the wine. Add the beef and bay leaf to the pot and cook over medium-high heat until all of the natural juices have evaporated from the pan. Add the rest of the wine, and cook until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally to ensure that the mixture is not burning to the bottom of the pan.
Add the tomatoes, turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally, until all of the flavors have concentrated and melded together. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Serve over polenta or thick pasta, such as pappardelle.
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You'll probably want to cut everything in half since there's only two of you. Also you might want to get organic whole, canned tomatoes as well as free-range or "40-acre" beef. I'm sure there's a high end market in Chicago somewhere ... we use a place called The Fresh Market ... but they don't have any stores in Chicago yet.