Not the Same Old Grind

In my kitchen, a food processor, a mini-chopper, a hand mixer, an emulsion blender, and an electric coffee/spice grinder line up along the counter. I cook a lot and put these appliances to good use. But to make Vincent Schiavelli's Sicilian Tomato-Meat Sauce, I reached for my food mill. The inexpensive, widely available, white plastic Moulinex has three interchangeable discs (fine, medium, and coarse). It holds a quart of tomatoes and purees them perfectly with a whirl of the handle, leaving a little texture, which you want in this sauce. It also catches the seeds and skins, so the sauce doesn't have to be strained. Afterward, the whole thing goes right in that other indispensable appliance, the dishwasher.