I am not a fan of bolognese sauce, but there was one day that I, for some ungodly reason, saw the picture of a pappardelle alla bolognese in the NYT website, and I realized I just HAD to make it! And it truly is one of the best things I've ever cooked, and that's only using very common ingredients! It's a recipes that explores how much you can do, how much flavor you can extract from things we consider 'simple'.
Ingredients (for about 3 – 5 servings):
• 1tbs of extra virgin olive oil (if you have EVOO with truffles it's even better!)
• 2tbs of butter
• 1 white onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 cup of celery
• 450g / 1 pound of minced meat (I used 200g of ground pork to 250g of ground beef)
• 1 cup / 240ml of milk
• 1 cup / 240ml of dry white wine
• 1 and 1/2 cup of canned tomato (basically one can)
• Peels of sicilian lemon
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Lots of water
• Freshly grated cheese (parmesan or grana padano)
Preparation method:
• Place the olive oil and the butter in a pan and wait for them to melt and heat up.
• Add the chopped onion in a pot and turn on medium heat. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Season them with salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.
• Add the ground meat, a generous pinch of salt, and pepper. Break up the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the meat loses its raw red color.
• Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring constantly, until it has completely bubbled away.Add the peeled lemon zests, and stir.
• Add the wine, let it boil until evaporated completely (it will take about 20 to 30 minutes). Taste it and season it as needed.
• Add the tomatoes and stir well to coat all the ingredients. Taste it and season as needed.
• When the tomatoes start bubbling, reduce the heat as much as possible to let the sauce cook slowly, with only an intermittent bubble rising to the surface.
• Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more (6 hours for maximum flavor), stirring occasionally. Check it every 20-30 minutes. As the sauce cooks, you will likely notice it starting to dry out and the fat separating from the meat. To prevent sticking, add ½ cup of water whenever necessary.
• In the end, however, there should be no water left, and the fat should separate from the sauce. Stir to mix the fat into the sauce, taste, and season it.
• Add a ladle of the pasta cooking water if you want it to be more saucy. Add the cooked pasta into the bolognese pot and mix it so the sauce completely coats the pasta.
• Serve with grated cheese and enjoy the best bolognese ever!
