Merguez Bolognese Sauce Recipes

MERGUEZ BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat until simmering. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often, until fat has rendered, 10 to 12 minutes. Add carrot, onion, and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Add ground beef and merguez sausage and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring to break meat into small pieces, until browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain excess fat as needed.
• Add Chianti and cook until liquid has almost evaporated. Reduce heat to medium and stir in tomato paste. Cook until sauce turns dark red, 3 to 5 minutes. Add enough milk to barely cover the meat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until milk has evaporated and the mixture turns into a thick rich sauce, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

BAKED PASTA WITH MERGUEZ AND HARISSA-SPIKED SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Grind caraway and cumin in a spice mill or a mortar and pestle; set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Cook sausage until browned all over but still pink in the center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Slice into 1" pieces.
• Add onion to same skillet and cook, stirring often, until soft, 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and reserved spices. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing, and juices, then harissa. Cook until sauce thickens slightly, 6-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until very al dente (about 3 minutes less than package directions; it will be firm in the center). Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.
• Add sausage, pasta, and cooking liquid to skillet; toss to coat. Transfer to a 3-quart baking dish, top with feta, and bake until top is browned and juices are bubbling, 18-22 minutes.

PERFECT BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, and carrots, stirring often, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add beef, pork, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a fork, until meat has cooked through but not browned, about 8 minutes.
• Add milk and nutmeg. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until liquid reduces by half and meat is above liquid, 20 to 25 minutes. Add wine, and simmer gently until liquid reduces by half, about 15 minutes.
• Add stock, pureed tomatoes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Season with pepper. Let cool slightly.

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.

HOMEMADE MERGUEZ

Steps:

• In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast cumin, coriander and fennel seeds until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer warm spices to a spice grinder and grind well, or use a mortar and pestle and pound seeds.
• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Form lamb mixture into desired shape (1-inch-thick by 5-inch-long cigars make nice merguez, but fatter cylinders or patties will also work). Chill for up to 5 days, freeze for up to 3 months, or use immediately.
• Brush sausages with oil and grill or broil them until browned and cooked through. Or fry them in a little oil until well browned all over. Serve with more cilantro and harissa on the side, if desired.

TUNISIAN RAGOUT WITH MERGUEZ

Steps:

• PART 1: Hard-boil the eggs for 10 minutes, slice into 1/4 inch strips, serve as a garnish.
• PART 2: Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch strips, grill over low heat for 5-10 minutes. They should not be burnt, but should have beautiful char marks from the grill, and should be soft throughout.
• PART 3: Place 3 tbsp olive oil in large saucepan and heat. Place cinnamon, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and garlic powder into the oil and lightly fry for about 10 minutes so that flavors permeate the oil. Keep heat low enough that oil does not smoke.
• Add rice and stir to coat with oil and then immediately add 4 cups water.
• Cover with lid and heat to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until water has absorbed and rice is soft and fluffy.
• PART 4: Cut potatoes lengthwise into wedges (8 wedges per potato). Toss in olive oil with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 375 for 40 minutes.
• PART 5: Chop onion and garlic in food processor until pieces are very small (less than 1/4 inch). Combine with beef, parsley, coriander seed, caraway seeds, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl.
• Mix with your hands, then form SMALL sausages by squeezing a small amount of mixture in your hands. Sausages should be about the size of a large thumb.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet until very hot, then brown sausages on all sides. Sausages should be almost completely cooked during this step. Remove and set aside.
• Turn off heat from under skillet, then add tomato paste and water. Heat to a simmer, stirring to mix. Simmer about 5 minutes.
• Return sausages to skillet and continue simmering for 30 minutes.
• Serve as follows: rice on bottom, then sausage and sauce, then alternate zucchini, bell pepper, egg, and lemon on top. Potatoes go on the side, with a little sauce on them as well.

BOLOGNESE MEAT SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the oil, butter, and chopped onion in the pot, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.
• Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.
• Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating-about 1 teaspoon-of nutmeg, and stir.
• Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding /2 cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
• Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.
• Ahead-of-time note: If you cannot watch the sauce for a 3- to 4-hour stretch, you can turn off the heat whenever you need to leave, and resume cooking later on, as long as you complete the sauce within the same day. Once done, you can refrigerate the sauce in a tightly sealed container for 3 days, or you can freeze it. Before tossing with pasta, reheat it, letting it simmer for 15 minutes and stirring it once or twice.
• Variation of Ragù with Pork: Pork is an important part of Bologna's culture, its economy, and the cuisine, and many cooks add some pork to make their ragù tastier. Use 1 part ground pork, preferably from the neck or Boston butt, to 2 parts beef, and make the meat sauce exactly as described in the basic recipe above.