TomatoLess Meat Sauce
Everyday, I’m faced with the awful decision of Blog vs Book. I let my husband taste something and after finding out if it is good, ask “Save?” or “Post?” It is so frustrating having to chose! This is one of those recipes that is so special that it probably should be saved for the book, but you, my lovely readers, have taken precedence with this one.
I learned early on that too many tomatoes can really affect my stomach and leave me hanging out near the bathroom for the better part of the day, but I have been in denial for the past few years and continue to eat them. There’s been so much hype lately about the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol and nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant) being detrimental for those of us with autoimmune diseases; so I just can’t possibly keep this sauce to myself for the next 9 months. You can serve it over Zucchini Noodles or use it in my Lasagna Recipe. It will probably end up in the book too, so promise me you’ll still buy it even though you already have access to the recipe?
If there’s two things I learned from my Italian Grandmother, it’s that pork and red wine belong with a meat sauce. Although, there’s quite the debate amongst my family members as to if that wine belongs in a glass in the cook’s hand or in the sauce. I personally do a little of both! I will be including my Great-Grandmother’s original meat sauce recipe in my book, so stay tuned for that one. It’s the best sauce you’ll ever taste and has been perfected over many generations.
I chose to make a bolognese style sauce for this tomato-free meat sauce. I am partial to it because of the complicated flavor profiles that come out with the use of chopped vegetables, salty pork, and a touch of red wine. A traditional bolognese sauce uses a little cream at the end to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, but since this sauce is sans tomato, we don’t need it. I actually throw in a little apple cider vinegar to add a little zing that you would miss otherwise.
*I can’t remember where I first saw the notion of using beets to make a sauce instead of tomatoes, but I’ve been wanting to make one for the past couple of years. Whoever the original creator was is a genius, but this sauce is like no other that I saw when searching the internet for recipes. I think you’re going to love it! Oh and I hate beets. FYI.
Shared on Allergy Free Wednesdays
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (bacon fat will work too, just reduce the salt slightly)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 cups beets, peeled and diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 pieces of bacon, chopped
- 2½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- ¾ cup dry red wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
- 1½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 pound ground beef, veal, or pork (I used grassfed 85/15 beef)
- Melt the butter with the olive oil in a sauce pan set over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes. Add the bacon and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the carrots, beets, and celery and cook until the vegetables have softened slightly, about 5-6 minutes.
- Pour in the wine and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Carefully pour the sauce into a blender and blend on low for 15 seconds, then increase the speed to high and continue to blend until you have a smooth sauce.
- *Be careful when blending hot liquids as they have the tendancy to splatter. You can also use an immersion blender in the pot.
- Return the sauce to the pan. Add the bay leaves, basil, oregano, thyme, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer then crumble the ground meat with your hands and add it to the sauce. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, until the meat is fully cooked.
- *The thickness of the sauce will depend on what the fat content of your meat is. If it is too thick, add a little more stock towards the end of the cooking process until it has reached your desired thickness.
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Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! MUST.TRY.TONIGHT. Thank you..
Yay! I’m so excited! I’m pinning this right away and will serve it over my spaghetti squash. I don’t have a spiralizer, but that’s at the top of my list. Thanks for the amazing recipe and have a great weekend!
What to replace the red wine with btw??
there’s a lot of non alcoholic wines out there that would probably work. Otherwise I saw a few things when I googled it about using red wine vinegar and some grape juice. You may also be able to just use more stock (I’d recommend beef if you’re doing all stock no wine) but the flavors will quite different. You may just need to play around with the salt and vinegar towards the end. You can also try this one from The Urban Poser! There’s no wine in it. http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/2011/04/fauxmato-marinara-sauce.html
I replaced it with a splash of red wine vinegar and some more stock, Tasted really good! Thanks so much
Thank You for posting this and I’ll still buy the book. In fact, I can’t wait. I’d pre-order right now if that was possible. Congratulations and blessings to you these next nine months!
Hmm. A fellow paleo of Italian (Mediterranean) descent. Have you noticed this trend?
Yum, I love the idea of the bacon in there, in addition to all the veggies. I think this is the most beautiful, bright red sauce I’ve ever seen. I’ll have to try making it one of these days!
Tomatoes don’t bother me, but I would love to try this recipe. It sounds delicious! What are the noodles in the pictures?
I am a new subscriber and I want you to know how much I appreciate your hard work and willingness to share your recipes. Thank you! I look forward to your book.
THANK YOU for this nightshade-free sauce recipe! I am like you…I love tomatoes but they don’t love me back and I’ve been in denial about it too, despite my overall good nutrition with the GAPS diet for autoimmune disease. I am fine with omitting potatoes, peppers and eggplant, but tomatoes are tough, especially this time of year when they are in season. Can’t wait to give this a try!
So happy for this sauce since I avoid nightshade plants. It is so hard to cook without tomatoes! I plan to try this this week. Thanks so much for sharing.
I have suspected that tomatoes are one of my culprits for a while (I dont usually get that stick…but i certainly dont feel well if i eat too many). But wasn’t sure if it made sense guess it does!
This looks great – cant wait to try it.
Hey! Thank you about your fantastic recipes. They have helped me a lot.
I would like to know what you eat during a day, so could you post your one day food diary? Would it be too much a trouble? 
But anyway, thank you about your recipes!
–salla
I am celiac and tomatoes can have a reaction for me just like gluten. I am so excited to try this but I will be using ground turkey.
Thank you for this!!! One of my kids is sensitive to tomatoes (which sucks because he LOVES them). I’m so excited to try this – we’ve just avoided tomato dishes, but this may open up a few more dinner options.
This is brilliant and beautiful. I’m always amazed at your recipes. I just bought two bundles of beets at the market this weekend. Beet sauce here I come!
This recipe is excellent! I made it today for supper, and my four kids (ages 1-6) all loved it, and went for seconds, thirds and fourths! I don’t think they have ever eaten that much. If all your recipes in your coming cookbook is this delicious, I won’t hesitate a second to buy or not. Thanks for sharing!
This looks sooooo yummy! My son and I have sensitivities with tomatoes. This really is a bummer since my family make our own tomato sauce- we’re Italian. I have beets in the garden and can’t wait to try this out! I found you through Heather at Allergy friendly. Thanks a bunch.
I tried this recipe last night. Love it. Tomatoes and garlic used to tear me up before I got my celiac under control but tomatoes still bother me even now. I used ground turkey instead of sausage. I also added sautéed mushrooms. I think next time I might use my food mill like when I used to make regular tomatoes sauce from scratch. It was a bit grainy for me but I did get inpatient with my blender.
Great recipe!
Oh. My. Goodness.
This recipe is a godsend! (found you through ‘simply sugar and GF’ recipe exchange) I’ve been on a nightshade-free diet for about 3 years since discovering, even after being on a GF diet for my Celiacs, that tomatoes and potatoes did not agree with me. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed spaghetti and lasagna and all those wonderful comfort foods. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS!
I had some beets left over from when I made this recipe. I peeled two large beets and this recipe only needed one. Today I sliced the leftover beets about a 1/4″ thick and steamed then with califlower. They taste great together.
Whoa! This sauce is AHmazing! Eating a bowl of it right now! Being on the AI protocol, and tomato free for over a year, I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. I will buy three of your books for sharing this. So GOOD!
I made it without the wine and substituted it with a little red wine vinegar and a splash of grape juice. I thought the sauce was great and I’m making it a double batch to freeze. My son loves it on spaghetti squash and is following the paleo autoimmune protocol. Thanks for this awesome recipe!!!
So great to hear!
Thank-you SOOOOOO much for posthing this!!!! I love cooking, but am frustrated having to relearn how I do everything, and red sauce was something I was mourning.
Does anyone know if this sauce freezes and defrosts ok? Thanks!
Made this for Christmas Eve for myself and put it over zucchini noodles. Added a zucchini and yellow squash to the sauce as well, and used 1# of beef and .5# of pork sausage. I used to think I hated beets. This recipe proved me wrong.
My family (the ones that roll their eyes at when I complain about grain-fed meats, let alone the vegetables fermenting on the counter) had it for leftovers not once but twice (I made sure to wait till they’d finished the first meal to tell them it was tomato-less) and I’ve been asked to send along the recipe. Success!
I made this last week and it was surprisingly good! I’ve only been Paleo for 2 weeks and because of Hashi thyroid, am on the autoimmune Paleo. Unfortunately after eating my second day of this sauce, I find I can’t eat beats
I also found that beats are in the night shade family which is on the no-no list. However, I did have a couple of co-workers try it and they also thought that it was better than they thought it would be.
Beets are not nightshades but I’m sorry you cannot tolerate them, that’s. bummer!
WOW! I just took my first taste and this is so wonderful! I’m hoping my kids don’t notice since I’m using it on my first ever meatza.
I have an autoimmune disease (Sjogren’s) and recently saw a nutritionist (Functional Medicine) who recommended I follow the Paleo diet, so no tomatoes!! I chanced upon your website searching the Pininterest site and I am so glad I did. When I saw this recipe I actually wanted to cry!! Being new to Paleo I felt the best way to transition was to find recipes similar to those I am used to cooking, but with ingredient substitutions, and this recipe fits the bill perfectly. Thank you!
Amazing recipe… Thanks so much for sharing! X
YESSS!!!! Unbelievable. Just yesterday – for real – I finally gave in to the fact that I can’t eat red sauce (or any form of concentrated cooked tomatoes)… and I can’t believe that you hate beets but still love this because that’s the one veggie I totally despise. So thank you thank you thank you! Can’t wait to try this.
OMG I made this today – I did toy around with the herbs but the end result was something sensational – looking at the end result it’s almost like a “trompe l’oeil”of a “normal” bolognaise sauce. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe