5 A Day Bolognese Recipes

Steps:

• Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add the butter to the oil in small pieces and when the butter foams, add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and bay and stir, about 5 minutes. Add pancetta and stir 8 to 10 more minutes to render and crisp. Add about a third of the beef and crumble it with a wooden paddle or spoon, let all of the liquid absorb and let the meat begin to lightly caramelize before adding the next third; repeat. Season the meat with salt, pepper, white pepper and nutmeg. Add white wine, about a quarter to a third of a bottle, then stir and let it absorb into the meat. Scrape up all of the fond or the drippings from the meats and vegetables, being careful not to burn the meat. Add milk, tomatoes and about 1 cup stock, a piece of cheese rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano if you have one, then lower heat to simmer, partially cover and cook the sauce 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Add up to 1 extra cup of stock if needed if sauce gets too thick. The perfect traditional Bolognese should be buttery, uniform and emulsified, the consistency of rich, tender, pourable oatmeal. Remove bay leaf and the rind, if using, from the sauce. Sauce may be made a few days ahead as the longer it sets, the better it gets.
• To serve, cook pasta in salted water 1 minute less than package directions for al dente. Reserve 1 full cup of starchy cooking water, then drain pasta and place back in hot pot.
• Combine pasta with about two-thirds of the sauce, the cooking water and a couple of handfuls of grated cheese, tossing with tongs to combine.
• Serve pasta in shallow bowls with a little torn basil.

Steps:

• Combine the beef and pork in a large bowl. "Pull" the ground meat apart with two forks as if you were shredding pulled pork, breaking up the clumps and incorporating the meat without compacting it. Continue to pull the meat apart until thoroughly mixed and no clumps remain.
• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Cook the pancetta, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and is golden brown on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the pancetta with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Spread half of the ground meat in an even layer in the pot and cook undisturbed until lightly golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up any clumps with the back of a spoon and scraping up any browned bits from the pot, until the meat is lightly browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer the browned meat with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the pancetta, leaving the fat in the pot. Repeat with the remaining ground meat.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, onions, bay leaf, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and brick red, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, bring to a boil and cook until it reduces and thickens and no smell of alcohol remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the stock, milk and browned meat.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the Parmesan rind and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated away and the mixture resembles sloppy joes, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There shouldn't be any rapid bubbles while cooking. Instead, the sauce should release occasional small bubbles. If you have a small burner you should use it; the larger burners even at their lowest setting might cook the sauce too quickly. If the sauce reduces too quickly, add 1/2 cup of stock or water and continue cooking; repeat if necessary. The sauce needs the full 2 to 2 1/2 hour cook time to develop the flavors.
• Discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Use the back of a spoon to break up any remaining clumps of meat for an even-textured sauce. Season with salt and keep warm.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta. If using fresh pasta, cook about 3 minutes. If using dry, cook until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions.
• Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and transfer to the sauce. Increase the heat to medium, bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, tossing the pasta constantly, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is slightly thickened, adding pasta cooking liquid if necessary, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer the pasta to a platter and top with grated Parmesan.

Steps:

• In a food processor, puree onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into a coarse paste. In a large pan over medium heat, coat pan with oil. Add the pureed veggies and season generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and cook until all the water has evaporated and they become nice and brown, stirring frequently, about 15 to 20 minutes. Be patient, this is where the big flavors develop.
• Add the ground beef and season again generously with salt. BROWN THE BEEF! Brown food tastes good. Don't rush this step. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook until brown about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red wine. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, another 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat. Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As the water evaporates you will gradually need to add more, about 2 to 3 cups at a time. Don't be shy about adding water during the cooking process, you can always cook it out. This is a game of reduce and add more water. This is where big rich flavors develop. If you try to add all the water in the beginning you will have boiled meat sauce rather than a rich, thick meaty sauce. Stir and TASTE frequently. Season with salt, if needed (you probably will). Simmer for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• During the last 30 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the spaghetti. Pasta water should ALWAYS be well salted. Salty as the ocean! TASTE IT! If your pasta water is under seasoned it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your complete dish will always taste under seasoned. When the water is at a rolling boil add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than it calls for on the package. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• While the pasta is cooking remove 1/2 of the ragu from the pot and reserve.
• Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the remaining ragu. Stir or toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved sauce, if needed, to make it about an even ratio between pasta and sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and sauce together over a medium heat until the water has reduced. Turn off the heat and give a big sprinkle of Parmigiano and a generous drizzle of the high quality finishing olive oil. Toss or stir vigorously. Divide the pasta and sauce into serving bowls or 1 big pasta bowl. Top with remaining grated Parmigiano. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• In a large skillet, warm oil over medium heat and saute bacon, onion and garlic until bacon is browned and crisp; set aside.
• In large saucepan, brown beef and pork. Drain off excess fat. Stir in bacon mixture, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, stock, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Serve sauce over hot pasta.