I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed

From the Recipe Box

Meat sauce for pasta is one of the first things I learned how to cook and has been an oft-used recipe in my repetoire every since. It calls for basic ingredients that we pretty much always have on hand (onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, ground meat, spices), cooks up in 30 - 45 minutes, and it tastes good. When I came across this recipe the other day, though, I was intrigued by the sauce and thought I'd give it a try. The recipe below is what I ended up making - an amalgam of it and the meat sauce that I've always made. As usual, the changes are mostly due to my laziness (Clean the food processor? No thanks!)/limited by what I had on hand (drained tomatoes are close enough to tomato paste). The result is, I think, substantially more flavorful and intense than my former (ok, let's be honest, more delicious), without really much more work. The trick is just to start things early enough and to be available to check on the sauce periodically throughout its cooking period. I don't know if it will entirely replace my meat sauce of old (there's something to be said for being able to decide what to cook an hour before you eat it), but it really is in another league.

Meat Sauce

olive oil

one medium onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon celery seed (the actual recipe calls for celery, which you can certainly use)

2 pounds ground pork (beef would be fine too, this is just what we have around)

2 quarts tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup red wine (I'm sure it would be great with the full 2 cups she suggests, I'm just stingy)

2 bay leaves

water

herbs of choice

salt

pepper

Heat about 3 tablespoons olive oil in heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, garlic, celery seed, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until nicely browned, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Now, set the veggies aside and do the same thing with the pork (you could do this concurrently in 2 pots, if you'd like it to go faster; I preferred dirtying fewer pots). Mine started out frozen, so I can't really give a time estimate here. Once the pork is nice and brown, add the vegetables and tomatoes and cook about 4 more minutes. Add red wine and cook 5 more minutes. Add water (she says until it's an inch above the meat, but my meat, etc. floated, so just estimate - I think I added about 2 cups to start, but I didn't measure), bay leaves, and any herbs that you like in sauce and have on hand (I just put in some dried oregano), stir to combine, and bring to a low simmer. Simmer for the next 3 hours, adding 1-2 cups of water every time it cooks down. Taste for spices and adjust appropriately (mine needed more salt). Serve on pasta or polenta, with some parmesan/romano/hard, salty cheese grated on top.

I think I may double the recipe next time, as we'll only get about 2 meals out of the above (to be fair, they are pretty generous portions and it would go further if you served it with sides, of course).