Today's MLK Day. I had made plans to go to work today, but was pleasantly surprised when I got an email on Saturday letting someone on the team know that I won't be in the office on Monday. How exciting! It's like a snow day! And it really was a snow day, too. The snow has been pouring down heavily all day. Lemon-slice and I braved driving on roads covered with 1-3 inches of powdery snow (how come there were no salt trucks?!) to buy crafts and to go grocery shopping. Lemon-slice wanted to make a fried pumpkin pastry for her Spanish class and I wanted nothing more than some warm bolognese in my stomach. Her pastry proved a greasy failure, but oh boy, I was more than pleased with the bolognese sauce...even if I had to do a few subs.
Tagliatelle Bolognese
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 peeled carrot, diced
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped
4 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 thin slices of pancetta, finely chopped
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground veal
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 c white wine
2 c light meat stock/beef stock
5 fresh sage leaves
1 bay leaf
1/3 c heavy double cream
1 lb tagliatelle or purchased fettuccine
1 c grated Parmesan cheese
1) In a large casserole dish over medium-low heat, melt 2 tbsp of the butter with the oliveoil. Add pancetta and saute until just starting to crisp (~3 min). Add onion, carrot, and saute until aromatic and lightly golden (~8-10 min).
2) Add ground beef, pork, and veal, stirring to break up. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a generous pinch of nutmeg. Raise the heat to medium and saute until meat is lightly browned.
3) Add wine and summer until amost completely evaporated. Add stock and cook until reduced by half.
4) Add tomatoes, sage, and bay leaf. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
5) Add cream. Adjust seasoning to taste.
6) In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Salt thewater, addpasta, and cook until al dente. Drain and put in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp cheese. Toss so butter melts. Add sauce and toss again gently. Serve immediately.
I got stuck on a few of these ingredients at the grocery store. For one, they didn't have pancetta so I used thick bacon (which seemed to have completely disappeared after the sauce was done...). I also couldn't find ground veal, so I just added in more pork and beef. Lastly, I used ground sage leaves rather than fresh ones. One thing to note is...I felt like I put in a lot of tomatoes, and then during dinner, there was some commentary on their disappearance. I blamed it on Lemon-zest, who claims to be allergic to fruits and vegetables, but it's actually a mystery to me. I assumed they got crushed while being stirred around in the pot, but when I looked inside to investigate...they left no trace! Tricky tricky.
Well, the bolognese sauce was well received. Definitely a keeper as is. The 2-3 hours spent committed to the kitchen though...not high on my priorities list so this recipe will probably only come out on special occasions when I need to impress someone!
xoxo,
lemonie
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