bolognese

I should probably have my Italian card revoked.

No seriously.

How have I been blogging for a year and never shared a Bolognese recipe with you?!?

With the air getting cooler, with Sunday football days being back and with a honeymoon to Italy looming near, it’s high time we brought a pot of luxuriously rich meat sauce to a simmer.

There’s an intense debate in my family. Meat sauce vs. Meatballs.

The meat saucers like the complexity of the flavors and the bits of meat clinging to the strands of pasta. The meatballers want a fat meatball perched atop their pasta. End of story.

Now, when I say intense debate, I mean a serious discussion went down on the beach one day. My fiance, not being Italian, just said he liked them all. My cousins, all having experienced every meatball and meat sauce concocted by my aunts, had very strong opinions.

Me? I prefer a meatball.

But a really good, hearty Bolognese has its place.

Especially when the Giants lose to the Cardinals and you need something to drown your sorrows in.

So.

The Bolognese.

You will need:

One white onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground sirloin (or whatever kind of ground meat you like)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, pureed (why not buy tomato puree? because it’s not the same. and because this is how grandma does it and it is highly advisable not to question an Italian grandma
1/2 cup red wine (I used chianti because it was open)
salt
pepper
olive oil

Drizzle olive oil in a nice, sturdy pot and add in your onion. Cook on medium heat until translucent.

Add the carrots and cook until they are soft.

Then add the celery and garlic

You want to let the veggies go long enough to get some nice browned bits, but you also want to watch that the garlic doesn’t burn.

At this point, you want to add your ground meat, using a wooden spoon to break it up.

While the meat browns, pour your can of whole tomatoes into a blender or food processor and give them a whir.

The pour over the browned meat.

Let that bubble away for about 20 minutes, then add your red wine.

Let it got on low to medium low for about 2 hours, checking occasionally and giving a stir once in a while.

It will get rich and dark and meaty and the whole house with smell of caramelized onion and browning meat, with the slightest hint of red wine.

When you’re ready to eat, boil up some pasta and top with the sauce.

sprinkle with some Parmesan

Give it a mix

and mangia!

I’ve come to a theory recently about cooking. If your mother is a fabulous cook, you either 1. learn all her secrets and turn out to be an equally fabulous cook or 2. you avoid the kitchen at all costs – your mom’s a fabulous cook you will never compare.

I wouldn’t say I fall into the second camp, but I will say it took me a bit longer to blossom into a cook myself because mom’s food was so good, why would I want to make something for myself?

Now that I’m on my own, I cook with reckless abandon. But I do find myself a little hesitant when it comes to the traditional family recipes.

My mom makes the best meatballs and gravy.

I’ve been trying to replicate hers, but haven’t been able to get the texture quite right. Something’s different. I don’t know, maybe it’s the pot.

So instead of recreating her meatballs, I decided I’d go my own way and come up with a meat sauce recipe or bolognese.

I don’t remember, growing up, mom ever making something like this, so I am relieved of the fear of my dish not standing up to hers.

You will need

1 small yellow onion, diced
2 stalk of celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 28oz can tomato puree
olive oil
salt
pepper

Drizzle a heavy bottomed pan with olive oil and toss in the carrot, celery and onion.

Let the veggies cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. You want them to soften and for the onions to turn translucent. When this happens, add in the garlic and let cook for anothe rten minutes or so.

Add the ground beef to the pot, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and incorporating the veggies into the meat.

Let the meat thoroughly brown. This should take maybe another ten minutes. Be sure to stir so the meat browns on all sides. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.

Pour in a can of tomato puree. Give a big stir and add more black pepper. Let this bubble for about 15 minutes. You can let it go for longer if you want to make this in the morning and serve for dinner later.

When you’re ready to serve, boil up a pot of water and cook a good sturdy pasta. I used rigatoni. You can use fettucini or penne or any other pasta with a bit of heft. This is not the dish for angel hair.

Top the pasta with the meat sauce

And of course it wouldn’t be a pasta dinner without a sprinkle of parmesan.

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Bolognese