This rich and delicious sauce simmers for 3-4 hours and is a perfect Sunday night dinner. Feel free to use ground veal, add more or less sausage or none at all. A typical bolognese usually has 2 or three types of meat. The sauce is very forgiving so if there is an ingredient that you don't like, omit it. I prefer bite-size piece of sausage with is NOT typical. You can crumble sausage and add to the pot if you prefer when you add the ground beef. The sauce is great with a wider noodle or a tubed pasta and holds up well in a "baked" dish.
This rich and delicious sauce simmers for 3-4 hours and is a perfect Sunday night dinner. Feel free to use ground veal, add more or less sausage or none at all. A typical bolognese usually has 2 or three types of meat. The sauce is very forgiving so if there is an ingredient that you don't like, omit it. I prefer bite-size piece of sausage with is NOT typical. You can crumble sausage and add to the pot if you prefer when you add the ground beef. The sauce is great with a wider noodle or a tubed pasta and holds up well in a "baked" dish.
Slice sausage into bite-size pieces. Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot and add a splash of olive oil to the pan. Sautee sausage until a nice color is obtained. Remove when nicely browned and set aside.
Dice onion, carrot and celery. Add 2 tbsp to pot and sautee veggies until onions are translucent. Stir often. When veggies are done, make a well in center of pot, add a dash of olive oil and bloom oregano and red pepper flakes. (omit pepper flakes if you prefer a milder sauce.)
in a small bowl, add 1/4 tsp baking soda to 1 Tbsp water and stir to dissolve. In a bowl, add your ground beef. Pour baking soda mixture to beef and combine well. (This step helps keep your beef moist. You are welcome to omit this step)
Add ground beef to pot with a large pinch of salt and saute until all the pink of meat is gone. Add previously sauteed sausage and the accumulated juice to the pot.
Add wine to pot and cook until reduced by a bit more than half. Add milk to pot at this point and gently simmer, stirring often until the milk has dissipated. Add nutmeg and stir.
Add crushed tomatoes, a good pinch of salt (About 1 tbsp or less according your taste) parmesan rind and tomato paste to pot and stir. Bring sauce to a nice simmer and reduce heat to as low as it can go. You'll want a very soft slow simmer with some bubbles just popping through the surface.
Simmer for 3 hours, stirring every now and then. If sauce becomes too thick, add pasta water if you have it, or water to thin down only if necessary.
At the two-hour mark, taste sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with your pasta of choice, incorporating pasta to pot, adding pasta water (little by little until the desired consistency is achieved. Add freshly grated parmesan to the pot at this point or on the side at the table.
Ingredients
Directions
Slice sausage into bite-size pieces. Heat a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot and add a splash of olive oil to the pan. Sautee sausage until a nice color is obtained. Remove when nicely browned and set aside.
Dice onion, carrot and celery. Add 2 tbsp to pot and sautee veggies until onions are translucent. Stir often. When veggies are done, make a well in center of pot, add a dash of olive oil and bloom oregano and red pepper flakes. (omit pepper flakes if you prefer a milder sauce.)
in a small bowl, add 1/4 tsp baking soda to 1 Tbsp water and stir to dissolve. In a bowl, add your ground beef. Pour baking soda mixture to beef and combine well. (This step helps keep your beef moist. You are welcome to omit this step)
Add ground beef to pot with a large pinch of salt and saute until all the pink of meat is gone. Add previously sauteed sausage and the accumulated juice to the pot.
Add wine to pot and cook until reduced by a bit more than half. Add milk to pot at this point and gently simmer, stirring often until the milk has dissipated. Add nutmeg and stir.
Add crushed tomatoes, a good pinch of salt (About 1 tbsp or less according your taste) parmesan rind and tomato paste to pot and stir. Bring sauce to a nice simmer and reduce heat to as low as it can go. You'll want a very soft slow simmer with some bubbles just popping through the surface.
Simmer for 3 hours, stirring every now and then. If sauce becomes too thick, add pasta water if you have it, or water to thin down only if necessary.
At the two-hour mark, taste sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with your pasta of choice, incorporating pasta to pot, adding pasta water (little by little until the desired consistency is achieved. Add freshly grated parmesan to the pot at this point or on the side at the table.