Shannon’s Fabulous Venison Pasta Sauce

September 2024

With deer season on the horizon, I thought perhaps my readers would enjoy some ways to use venison. This recipe was first shared by my daughter, Shannon Honl. So I refer to it as Shannon's Venison Pasta Sauce recipe. She modified a recipe that she found for Absolute Best Ever Lasagne at Food.com. I have further modified it. This recipe can be used on any pasta or for lasagne. It is so good that I sometimes gift frozen quarts of it to special friends. Everyone loves this recipe.

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Delicious venison pasta sauce is beautiful as well.

Ingredients for Venison Pasta Sauce. Makes 3-4 quarts of flavorful sauce.

1 lb ground venison

1 lb Italian sausage. (I use Johnsonville sweet of mild bulk)

2 TBSP Extra virgin olive oilI

1 large sweet onion chopped

1/8 tsp ground pepper

1 TBSP dried parsley flakes

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

1 TBSP dried Greek oregano

2 TBSP fresh oregano chopped

1 TBSP dried California sweet basil

1/4 cup fresh sweet basil chopped

1 (26 ounce) can diced tomatoes.

6 ounces of tomato paste

4-6 ounces dry wine (red or white)

2 cloves peeled garlic

1 parmesiano-reggiano rind

shredded parmesan to finish

Brown the sausage and burger in olive oil.

First brown the Italian sausage in olive oil on medium high heat. Add the venison burger and brown that as well. When the meat is well browned, add the onion and continue to cook until the onion becomes transluscent. Reduce the heat to medium or less.

Add the tomatoes, paste, and wine. Mix well. Add the dried and fresh herbs, as well as the black pepper. Finally add the cloves of garlic and the chunk of cheese rind. After the whole mixture is heated through, reduce heat to low and simmer for several hours, being careful to keep the mixture from getting too dry. Add some water or wine if necessary. This is a very thick sauce. The flavor and appearance will improve with cooking.

Serve over your favorite pasta and finish with grated parmesan. Freeze the extra sauce in quart deli containers for a quick and delicious meal another night.

Chef's Notes:

1. The original recipe called only for the dried herbs. You can just go with that. I like to add the fresh, chopped versions also. I think they add notes of brightness to the earthiness of the dried herbs.

2. I peel and put the garlic cloves in whole. Then I take them out before using or storing the sauce. I am not a fan of garlic-forward food. If you are, mince the garlic and leave it in.

3. I buy the cheese rinds at Eataly in Chicago when I am there. They sell bags of them. I store them in the freezer and also use them in soups. Take the rind out of the sauce and discard it before serving. If I buy a chunk of parmesan, I cut the rind off and save it for this purpose. I think it adds some richness to the mix.

4. The original recipe called for 1 tsp of ground black pepper. I reduced it to 1/8 tsp and I think it is plenty. Again, if you go for more zip, experiment.

This is my go-to pasta sauce. Stan loves pasta and sauce. This recipe gets alot of play in my kitchen.

Ciao!