One common characteristic of vintage recipes is less reliance on herbs and spices and more reliance on the natural flavors of the foods ingredients themselves. And the results can be amazing.

I adjusted the recipe to account for the fact that today’s tomato puree is considerably less watery than it was 80 and 90 years ago, and I increased the recipe size to use a No. 10 can of tomato puree which will fill 12 one-pint mason jars, but the essence is true to the original. (Old school quiz time! How big is a No. 10 can? Answer appears in the recipe.)

You’ll need:

8 Tbsp. butter (¼ lb. brick)
½ cup olive oil
3 large onions, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 No. 10 can tomato puree (6½ lb. can)
4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
4 Tbsp. parsley
2 lbs. ground beef, browned
1 cup water (1½ to 2 cups if canning)
Salt to taste

For a smaller batch, halve the recipe.

Cook onions and garlic in the butter and olive oil in a skillet until onions are soft. Pour tomato puree into stockpot; add cooked onion, garlic, butter and oil mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce and the browned ground beef.

If preparing for the dinner table, cover and simmer for 3 hours. If canning, cover and simmer for 1½ hours and then portion into mason jars. Process in a pressure canner at 11 lbs. pressure for 75 minutes for pint jars, or 90 minutes for quart jars. Canning is a cooking process in its own right.

The end result has a milder flavor than a modern herby, spicy sauce, but it is delightful. Just remember that this is not low fat by a long shot; in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, fatty foods were not yet much of a concern.

So, dig in! (Well, wait for the host to dig in first, then you may dig in. Gotta know our table manners!)