How to make Meat Sauce for a Hundred

In order to make meat sauce, you must start with a good pot. She needs to be big if she’s going to hold enough to serve a hundred people. A sturdy one with a thick, heavy bottom. This will protect your sauce from ruin in the long run. She doesn’t have to be new. Sometimes the older ones work better. But she has to be properly prepared.

First, she must be cleaned and free of anything left over from previous uses, especially if someone has been careless with her and she’s been burned before. Anything left over in her will affect how your sauce will taste, regardless of how good and fresh your ingredients are. So, soak her well. Let her past fade away in the warm, soapy water. Rub her firmly, but gently, until all the charred remnants of the past have floated away. Then rinse her clean and dry her thoroughly until she is renewed and ready to be used.

It’s always good to prepare her with a little oil. Light, extra-virgin olive oil is best. But don’t overdo it. Just add enough to coat her bottom until she is slick and shiny. This, too, will protect her from misuse. Place her over a low flame and slowly warm her. Spread the oil all over her bottom, and a little up the side too if you like, until she is completely coated and ready for use.

Some people like to add the meat next, but I suggest you wait until you have given your pot a little flavoring. Finely mince onions and garlic and add these flavors to your pot. Patience here is a must. If you rush this step, your flavorings could turn hard and burn. Let them relax in the warm pot. Occasionally stirring them, gently turning them over until every piece is coated with a very light glaze of the warm slick oil. Continue this stage until what is inside her sweats with their own juices and melds into the oil.

Now she is ready for the meat.

You may use any type of meat you like. You may even use a combination of meats if you want to make your sauce unique. Whatever type of meat you choose, make sure he is well ground (ed) and free from anything that may cause you harm (disease, pestilence, rot). I prefer a large amount of meat in my sauce. I like to have something to sink my teeth into, and I want to feel full and satisfied after I’ve eaten. But the amount of meat you use is totally up to you, your tastes, your desires.

Once you have decided on your meat, place him in the pot with your flavorings. You’ll want to turn up the heat for this next bit. But do it slowly, again, you don’t want to risk burning and ruining everything. The meat will need to be tended. He’ll need to be turned over and over and over until he falls completely apart. Watch him closely until he is well done.

The next step is where I begin adding the spices. For me, there is no such thing as too much spice, too much flavor. I like to add the spice at this point so that my meat remains flavorful, even after it has cooked for a long time. The flavors infuse with the natural juices in my meat, giving my sauce a long lasting, rich, robustness that would not be achieved if I waited and only added the spices later.

Here again, you have a choice of which spices to use. I prefer traditional flavors in my sauce. That’s not to say that I haven’t tried using unconventional spices in the past. But what I have learned over the years is to know yourself, know what you like, and know what you expect from your sauce. I like to add more garlic, black pepper, basil, and a pinch of salt to mix and emulsify with my meat. At this point, if you feel like your meat is becoming too dry, you can add some moisture. Some Worcester Sauce or dissolved bouillon should perk your meat right up. Don’t add too much. You don’t want your meat to feel overwhelmed, or like he’s drowning. You just want him to be ready for the next and most crucial step.

Now for the base of your sauce. Traditionally, tomatoes are the typical choice as the base, but there are always those who dare to be innovative or who truly need something different. For me, tomatoes are fine.

This may be one of the few cases in cooking where fresh is not always the best. Using fresh tomatoes in a meat sauce requires additional steps. Before you can add them to your meat, you must make sure they are not too watery, or they will make your sauce thin and weak.

For those who love tomatoes, there is nothing better in the world than a big, ripe, juicy tomato plucked right from the garden. One so full of flavor that its juices drip down your chin and flow across your chest as you delve into it to take a big mouthwatering bite in front of God and everyone. But, in the long run, this decadent pleasure is not always the best for your sauce. In order for your sauce to withstand the test of time, it must be thicker, homogenous, stalwart. If the flesh and the fluids of a fresh tomato are too separate, too dissimilar, your sauce will never be satisfying. It can never hold on to any flavors worth having. So, if you want to use fresh tomatoes in your sauce, you must take the time to cook them down. Let all that extra moisture evaporate until you are left with the fleshy essence of the fruit.

For those of us not willing to put in this extra effort, or who have done so in the past and do not wish to put in the time and energy required, choosing tomatoes that have already been processed and canned works just fine. Remember, even canned tomatoes vary in quality, so choose wisely.

Once you have prepared your pot, cared for your meat, begun to add the seasonings, and chosen the tomatoes you desire, you may add them to your sauce.

You’re trying to feed a hundred, so be generous.

Take care as you add the red life’s blood to your pot. It can be messy. Red may splash and stain, leaving permanent reminders of your carelessness. Don’t worry if this happens. We all do it at some point in our lives. It almost seems to be part of the process. When this mess happens, and it most assuredly will happen, you will clean it up. You will go on.

Your sauce is almost complete. At this point, more spices are a must. Throw everything you have into it. What do you have to lose? More garlic, more onions, more basil. Add in oregano, bay leaf, parsley, sage. The more the merrier! And wine. Don’t forget the wine. Something red, and dark, and bold. Taste it first. Drink deeply from the bottle. Let it settle in your mouth. Roll it around and let it dance across your tongue. Understand its complexity and appreciate its subtleness. Be liberal in your application.

As the rich aromas fill the air, smell them. Appreciate them. Inhale them deep into your soul.

Now it is time to let your sauce simmer. It takes a while for all the ingredients to blend and fuse, and mature to make your sauce complete. You cannot rush this step. How long will it take? Who knows? It may take an hour, a day, a week, a lifetime. Only you can know when your sauce is truly ready.

Another choice. How to serve your sauce. Over pasta? On a pizza? Baked into lasagna? Oh, the possibilities are endless.

When you are ready, serve your sauce to those you choose. Those you love. Those who need to be fed. Enjoy it. Relish it. Rejoice because you made it.