Recipe: Meat Sauce

Makes enough sauce for 4 meals that serve 4

1/4 cup olive oil

3 pounds boneless beef shanks cut into 1-inch pieces

1 small sweet onion, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, crushed

Freshly ground pepper and salt, to taste

½ cup red or white wine

3 cans (28 ounces each) whole peeled tomato, crushed

Fresh basil

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large saucepan; add meat a few pieces at a time, sear quickly, remove and set aside until all the meat is browned.

2. Remove the last batch, add onions and garlic and cook until translucent, stir in all the meat and add salt and pepper to taste, add the wine and cook until almost all the wine is reduced.

3. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally. If the sauce is getting too thick, cover the pot or add some water.

4. Prepare pasta of your choice according to package directions and combine with some of the meat sauce. Freeze the rest of the sauce for use later.

From Iole Aguero