Ragu

I made a batch of ragu on Tuesday, as I normally do every month or two, using fresh minced steak and tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic etc. I sweat a chopped onion in a large pan with a couple of chopped cloves of garlic until translucent, about 5 - 10 minutes. In a separate frying pan I brown the 500g of minced steak until it releases its fat. I drain off the surplus fat then add the mince to the onions together with tinned tomatoes, a couple of  crumbled beef stock cubes, a good tablespoon of dried oregano and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. I add a lot of tomatoes e.g. four 400g tins. I bring the whole pan up to the boil then transfer the contents to a slow cooker and cook on low for about 4 hours. I don't generally need to add much salt since the stock cubes are quite salty.

This "recipe" has stood me in good stead for many years but this time the sauce was very acidic and I had to add what seemed a lot of sugar to correct the seasoning. Obviously I do not want to be adding significant amounts of sugar to my food so I will have to try a different brand of tinned tomatoes and / or try a different recipe next time.