Bolognese Meat Sauce

By á-2825

This is a combination of Two Bolognese Recipes. The main recipe was from Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author. I also used the addition of Pancetta, which comes from Mario Batali.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbs vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
• 3 Tbs butter plus 1 Tbs for tossing the pasta
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 stalks celery, minced or chopped (Do Not leave this out, even if you dislike celery; it's been tried with bad results)
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 pound ground pork, beef, veal
• Pancetta (6oz.), ground
• 5 Garlic Cloves
• 1 1/2 Cups whole milk
• 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 Cups dry white wine
• 6 Tblsp. Tomato Paste
• 2 Cans 28oz.) Italian plum tomatoes, (I used crushed tomatoes)
• Basil
• salt
• pepper
• freshly graded parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• Pasta of choice: tagliatelle, but works equally well with rigatoni, fusilli, and conchiglie

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 60mins
Cooking time 300mins

Preparation

Step 1

1. Pulse onion, carrots & celery in food processor.

2. Add oil and butter to large pan and once heated, add onion, celery, and carrots to pan. Turn heat on to medium. Cook and stir mixture until translucent. Cook for 2 minutes more, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.

2. Pulse pancetta with garlic in food processor and add to mixture of ground pork, veal and beef. Mix together well, adding a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Add the meat mixture to the pan, breaking up the meat and stir well. Cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color. Add tomato paste and stir well.

3. Add the milk and let simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. This can take a while. Add the 1/8 tsp of grated nutmeg and stir.

4. Add the wine and let simmer until it has almost evaporated. This can take a while. Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest simmer with ocassional bubbles breaking. Add Basil to pot of sauce.

5. Cook uncovered for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. If the sauce begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat, add 1/2 cup of vegetable or chicken stock to keep it from sticking to the pot. At the end, however, very little liquid should remain and the fat must be separate from the sauce. Taste and season as needed for salt & pepper.

5. To serve: toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the final tablespoon of butter. Serve with the parmesan on the side. Hazan uses 1 1/4 lb of fresh pasta

*NOTE: Once the tomatoes and basil are added to the mixture, I let it bubble slightly, and then transferred the entire mixture to a slow cooker to continue cooking for approximately 4 hours.