Bolognese Sauce

Here is my recipe for a bolognese sauce:

-  1/4 cup olive oil

-  1 pound lean ground beef

-  1 medium onion (chopped)

-  1/2 cup shredded carrot

-  1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)

-  1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)

-  2 cloves crushed garlic

-  1 can (28 ounce) peeled whole tomatoes

-  1 cup beef broth/stock

-  3 cans (6 ounces each can) organic tomato paste

-  1/4 cup whole milk

-  1 teaspoon dried basil

-  1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

-  1 bay leaf

Portion 2 tablespoons of the 1/4 cup olive oil into your large pot and bring to a medium heat. Add ground beef to the pot and sauté until the meat is no longer pink. While cooking be sure to break any clumps apart.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, chopped onion, shredded carrot, salt, black pepper, and garlic to the pot.  Stir and simmer for approximately 5 minutes.

While the meat mixture is simmering, remove the whole peeled tomatoes from the can and place in a bowl.  Purée slightly with a stick blender (discard the juice left in the can or store for later use).  Do not over purée, you don't want it to be to "soupy".  It is preferred to have a chunky texture.  By now, the meat mixture should be ready to stir in the tomato purée, beef broth/stock, tomato paste, and milk.   Lastly, add basil, cayenne pepper, and the bay leaf.  Stir until well combined.  Let simmer for no less than one hour, I prefer to let it go for approximately 4 hours or more.  Serve with fresh bread, over a pasta dish, in a lasagna, or even freeze.  This does make a lot of sauce.  We are using our sauce in 2 loaf size pans to make lasagna and will freeze the remaining sauce to use at a later date.  Manga, Manga!