Thursday, March 25, 2010

What's for dinner?

When my folks were here about two weeks ago, I made bolognese and served it over one of my all time favorite pastas, bucatini. Bucatini is like really fat spaghetti with a hole in the center, like a pasta straw. It's perfect for a really thick, rich sauce like bolognese. Here's my recipe:

1 pound each ground beef, turkey and pork
2 lg white onions, chopped small
5-6 carrots, chopped small
2-3 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 lg cans peeled plum tomatoes, chopped
1 can tomato paste
1/2 bottle white wine
1-2 cups chicken stock (beef would be fine too)
2 cups milk
olive oil and/or pancetta fat
nutmeg, salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme

In a large stock pan, add some olive oil and some pancetta fat (I always save the fat from pancetta because it has a great flavor - if you don't have that, you could render down some fat back.) Add the onions, garlic and carrots and saute on med until they start to soften. Turn up the heat and add all the meat and a little wine and stock. Stir to break up the meat while it cooks. Then add both cans of tomatoes, the can of paste and more wine. Add your seasonings to taste. *Note - the nutmeg may seem like an odd seasoning, but don't be shy with it. It really makes this dish. Stir often as it cooks down (I sometimes cook mine for as long as 4 hours or more), periodically adding the milk and wine until it's all in.

Serve over your favorite pasta with good grated Parmesan. Remind your family how hard you worked. You can add bread and salad too. This is a very rich meal and the leftover sauce freezes nicely, which is why I make so much at once.

3 comments:

  1. Now I'm so hungry. Yum!

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  2. There is nothing better than a good bolognese.MMMM.

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  3. ooooh - that looks delish. and guess who's having pasta tonight!

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