Homemade Tomato & Meat Sauce

Directions

• Prep Ingredients: 
  Finely chop the onion. Mince the garlic. Measure out the dried oregano, basil, and thyme. Open the cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste.
• Cook Ground Beef: 
  In a large skillet or saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Break the meat into crumbles with a spatula.
• Sauté Onions and Garlic:
  Add chopped onions to the browned beef and sauté until onions are softened. Season with salt & pepper. Add minced garlic and sauté for an additional minute.
• Toast Tomato Paste and Spices: 
  Push the meat, onions, and garlic to one side of the pan. Add tomato paste to the empty side and let it toast for a minute until it develops a deeper color. Sprinkle dried oregano, basil, and Italian seasoning over the 
  tomato paste and toast them briefly, stirring to combine with the paste.
• Combine Ingredients: 
  Mix the toasted tomato paste and spices with the meat, onions, and garlic.
• Deglaze with Red Wine Vinegar: 
  Pour red wine vinegar into the pan to deglaze, scraping up any flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. You can also use red wine instead of the vinegar Bring to rapid simmer and cook for 1 minute.
• Add Tomato Sauce: 
  Pour in the cans of tomato sauce, stirring well to combine all ingredients.
• Use Water to Get Every Bit of Sauce:
  Before discarding the tomato sauce cans, add 1/4 cup of water to each can, swishing it around to capture any remaining sauce, and then add this water to the sauce. This ensures you get every bit of sauce.
• Simmer: 
  Bring the sauce to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
• Final Touch: 
  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
  
• Serve: 
  Serve the red sauce/meat sauce over your favorite pasta or use it in your favorite Italian dishes.