Bolognese

  
So, very cold weather here in January. My thoughts turn to one of my favorite comfort foods: Bolognese sauce. This is a slow-cooked, rich and hearty meat sauce, that has some tomato in it. Not a tomato sauce with some meat in it. I use a traditional recipe from Gourmet magazine, with just a little doctoring.

Onion, celery, shallots, garlic

You make a sofrito with your basic mirepoix: celery, carrots, and onion, a little garlic. The key is to dice/chop these ingredients as fine as your knife skills will allow. You do not want a chunky sauce. The vegetables should essentially melt into the sauce. In a fair amount of good olive oil, cook them on low to medium heat, just sweating them until translucent, no browning.

Then add the diced pancetta and/or prosciutto. Let that saute for a couple of minutes until it renders a bit.





 

Ground pork, veal, and beef

Turn up the heat a little bit. Then add the ground meats. I used all three: pork, veal, and beef. You want to break up the chunks, using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula,  constantly smushing the meat until it is all broken down and no longer pink.

 Now it's time for the tomato. I used a combination of tomato paste, and a few whole San Marzano tomatoes that I chopped myself. I have seen some recipes that just call for tomato paste, some that call for tomato paste and water, and other combinations as well. Whatever. Like I said, it's a meat sauce with some tomato, not the other way around.


Now for the liquids. I used an equal amount of white wine and whole milk. Again, you will see some recipes that call for red wine instead of white. Some that may call for cream instead of milk. Some that call for no milk or cream at all. Some will call for water. In any case, you need to add some liquids to the pot. I deglazed the pan with the white wine, and let it cook down for a couple of minutes. Then I added the milk.



 

Now you are ready to season it, and let it simmer for at least a couple of hours. Taste for salt and pepper; I used a little dried thyme in it too. Cover the pot and simmer on low for a couple of hours; it will thicken up as it cooks. Give it a stir every once in a while, and make sure it's not cooking too fast. Just a light simmer.

After a couple - three hours, you will be left with a really thick meat sauce, very dense.








I like to serve it with rigatoni; I think the pasta police would probably say it should be served with tagliatelle, but I like how the meat gets inside the hollow rigatoni. A little grated cheese, to gild the lily.