Bolognese Sauce

This recipe comes from Lidia Bastianich's book called "Lidia's Italian American Kitchen".  Lidia is one of my favorite chefs.  I absolutely love her cookbook and have made many recipes from it.  This sauce takes at least 2 hours to cook to get the full flavor of the meat.  I cooked it for 2 1/2 hours.  It's a real old fashioned Bolognese sauce that I think you will love.  It's not very difficult to make at all.

Bolognese Sauce

Makes 6 cups

enough to dress about 1 1/2 lbs of dried pasta

Ingredients

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, minced (about 1 cup)

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely shredded (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup minced celery

1 lb. ground beef (not pictured)

1 lb. ground pork (I used all beef) 

1/2 cup dry red wine

3 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes

3 bay leaves

4 cups hot water or as needed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Stir in the onions, carrots, and celery, season them lightly with salt and cook, stirring until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.  Crumble in the ground beef and pork and continue cooking, stirring to break up the meat until all the liquid the meat has given off is evaporated and the meat is lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Pour in the wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the wine is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes.  Pour in the tomatoes, toss in the bay leaves and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is dense but juicy and a rich, dark red color. (Most likely a noticeable layer of oil will float to the top toward thee end of cooking).  This will take about 2 to 3 hours..the longer you cook it, the better it will become.  While the sauce is cooking, add hot water as necessary to keep the meats and vegetables covered. The oil can be removed with a spoon and reincorporated into the sauce which is done traditionally.


*the sauce can be made the day before and skim the fat off the top.

Enjoy!