Beef and Sausage Sunday Sauce (Ragu) Recipe

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This is a really good recipe for a Sunday Sauce a/k/a Ragu compliments of Laura Vitale.

Recipe Ingredients

1 Medium Onion, diced

3 (28oz) Cans of Tomato Puree*

3 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 ½ Lbs Cubed Chuck Roast trimmed

1 ½ lbs Sweet Italian Sausage w/fennel, cut in half

1 cup of Beef Broth or Red Wine

Salt and Pepper, to taste

4 TBSP dried Basil, finish with fresh basil

Recipe Procedure

1) In a large pot over medium high heat, preheat the olive oil. Add the sausage and season lightly with salt and pepper, cook until brown on all sides. Remove to a bowl.

2) Add the chuck and brown. Then remove to the bowl with the browned sausage.

3) Add the chopped onions to the remaining drippings and add a bit more oil if necessary. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until they start to develop some color. Add all the meats right back in along with any accumulated juices. Add in the broth or wine and cook for 1 minute

4) Add the tomato puree along with 2 cups of water.

5) Bring to boil and reduce the heat to low, partially covered and let it slowly simmer for 4 hours or until the beef is very tender. Stir every 20 - 30 minutes with a wide wood, rubber or silicone spatula. Do not use anything that is spoon-shaped because it clearly is not designed to scrape the bottom of a pan. Add water as necessary. 


Serve over a thick pasta such as rigatoni, penne or gnocchi. 

Note: The last time I made this I used a 106 oz can of tomato sauce from Sam's and it made little difference from when I used Cento San Marzano whole tomatoes. In the future, I'll only use the "good" stuff strictly for a special marinara sauce.

Special note- if one was not enough. You will probably find that this recipe makes more sauce than you thought or intended so save the remaining sauce for another day as it will have all of those incredible flavors.