Boring but delish comfort food

Up to now I have had a very small repertoire when it came to pasta sauce:


1. Something creamy
2. Something in a tomato sauce... which I had always referred to as Bolognese.

Recently though, I have discovered that Bolognese doesn't really involve tomato at all, at least not in the 'throw in a bottle of crushed tomato' kind of involvement. Also, Bolognese (so I'm told) can have butter in it - yeah... butter!

Well that revelation certainly peaked my interest. I'm all mixed up though because now I don't know what to call the tomato stuff (I'll do a post with that stuff though 'cause I like it - I've got it down to a science now), in the UK they call it 'bog' or 'bol'.
In any case, I was checking out this article in Saveur magazine a while ago and it's changed the way that I think about simple pasta sauces (we'll talk about Spaghetti alla Carbonara at some point) because this is just minced meat and some very simple additions. I love the milk/cream addition and now greatly appreciate how important good parmesan is to a recipe. I can't tell you how happy you will be if you spend a little extra on some good parmesan, generally of course, but especially here.
So, if like me, you have some short people bothering you constantly with 'Mommy... what's for dinner' and you are finding yourself in need of some easy, comforting food that you can make without serious effort or thought... you've found your recipe. Open a nice bottle of red and throw some green stuff on the side and you're good to go!


(Wanda's) Classic Bolognese
serves 4

1 lb of mince (beef or lamb would work nicely - both?)
good sized chunk of Pancetta (ok - definitely use a few slices of bacon in a pinch)
2 ribs celery, diced
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 small pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 good dollops of butter
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp dijon mustard
oregano, basil (fresh or dried) to taste
4 tbsp sugar
3 tsp salt
dash pepper sauce (should you so desire)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

In a heated Dutch oven add the pancetta and the mince. Let it cook enough to release some of the fat. Once fat is in the pan add the veggies and cook together with the meat until the onions become limp and transparent (won't take too long - 4 min. maybe).
Add in the butter, Worcestershire and dijon. Cook together for a few minutes. Add in the herbs, sugar and salt. Cook together again for a few minutes. Add in the tomato paste and mix it into the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Once blended add in the cream, milk and parmesan. Cook at very low heat for about 30 hr.

Serve over pasta of choice - we like long ones for this recipe.

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St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.

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Wanda Thorne
St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
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