Grandmas Bolognese Recipes

GRANDMA'S BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Soak mushrooms in warm water 30 minutes; drain, reserving liquid. Chop mushrooms (you should have 1/3 cup). Melt butter in a Dutch oven or a large, heavy straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta; cook, stirring, until browned and crisp, about 1 minute. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
• Add 2 tablespoons oil to Dutch oven; heat until shimmering. Add both meats, increase heat to high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Return vegetables to Dutch oven with marjoram, nutmeg, parsley, and basil. Add Marsala and bring to a boil; cook, scraping up browned bits, until liquid has almost evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup mushroom liquid and mushrooms, broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 hour. Stir in cream and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened, 20 to 25 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta to boiling water and cook until floating and tender, about 1 minute. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, then drain. Transfer pasta to skillet with sauce. Add 1/2 cup pasta water; toss to combine and finish cooking, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat; add cheese and remaining 1/4 cup oil. Serve with more cheese, oil, pepper, and basil leaves, if desired.

SIMPLE BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. This will take approximately 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano.

CLASSIC BOLOGNESE

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.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until butter starts to sizzle, then reduce heat to medium. Add pancetta, and cook until golden and fat has rendered, about 2 1/2 minutes. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and cook, stirring often, until just beginning to brown around edges, about 10 minutes (adjust heat if mixture is browning too quickly).
• Add beef and pork and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently and separating meat with the back of a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Once meat is completely browned, pour off any excess fat. Add tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring to intensify sweetness.
• Pour in wine and cook, stirring to scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot, until liquid has evaporated, 6 to 7 minutes. Add 1 cup milk and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes (don't worry if it appears slightly curdled, it will smooth out again). Add thyme bundle and bay leaves, and then pour in tomatoes and 6 cups stock. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook, partially covered, 3 to 3 1/2 hours, skimming the fat from the surface with a ladle periodically. If at any time the sauce appears too dry, add up to 1 cup more stock as necessary. The finished sauce should have the consistency of a loose chili. Stir in remaining 1/4 cup milk and season with salt and pepper, as desired. If not serving immediately, let cool completely before transferring to airtight containers. Refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months; defrost in the refrigerator before using.

GRANDMA'S BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• 1. In a small saucepan, bring broth to a simmer over medium heat. Put tomato paste into a small bowl and pour in 1 cup broth; stir to dissolve. Set tomato-infused broth aside (Keep remaining broth hot.) 2. In another saucepan, bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. Add cloves, remove from heat and let steep, covered, for one hour. 3. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add pancetta and cook until fat has rendered, stirring occasionally. Add carrots, celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally until soft and caramelized (about 30 minutes). Stir in beef, pork and veal, cook, breaking meat apart with wooden spoon, until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high and add wine and cook until wine is evaporated. 4. Lower heat to medium, stir in nutmeg, and reserved tomato broth and cook, stirring occasionally until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. 5. Lower heat to medium, low and add 1/2 cup reserved hot broth and cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Repeat 1/2 cup at a time until all broth has been used (kind of like risotto) - this can take some time. ***NOTE: Although this may seem very time consuming, don't take it too seriously. You can walk away and do other things during this 'liquid absorbing' part. Don't go stir crazy - this does not have to be perfect! 6. Add chicken livers to the sauce and cook for 8 minutes until soft. Using a fork, mash livers on the side of the pot (or remove and do it on a plate) with a tablespoon into the sauce. Add the milk and simmer until thick and velvety - another 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with pasta.