Until culinary school, I used to hate bolognese. I would say “meat belongs in balls, not in sauce” (eloquent, right?). My bias dates back to my elementary school cafeteria. The “meat sauce” was terrible. I cringe just thinking about it. Of course, like most kids, if I hated it the first time, I will never ever ever ever like it. Period. End of story. We tend to grow out of these food phobias when we become adults, but that one stuck with me for far too long.
I remember making it in culinary school thinking, “well this is just gonna be dry and gross.” With a grimace on my face, I tasted it for seasoning. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking, “Sh**…..” It was awesome. I couldn’t have been more wrong about bolognese. And shame on me for judging a food I disliked as a kid. I should know better by now. Now that I think about it, my disdain for regular spaghetti stems from that exact elementary school dish. I think I’m gonna have to re-evaluate the foods in my “no fly” zone…
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- ¼ lb panchetta, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb low fat ground pork
- 1 lb low fat ground beef
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup Merlot or dry red wine
- 1 lb (28 oz) whole, canned tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
- 1 cup water
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 lbs good quality rigatoni
- Parmesan cheese, for garnish
- Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the onion, celery, carrot, panchetta and garlic. Process until finely ground.
- In a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, sweat the processed vegetables with the olive oil until tender and dry. About 10 minutes.
- Add the ground meats and stir until completely broken into small pieces and cooked throughout. About 15 minutes more. Add a generous pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Add the wine and cook until completely evaporated. If you push the meat to one side of the pot, the only liquid that should remain is grease. When the wine has evaporated, use a ladle to remove the majority of the grease (I find this method easier and safer that attempting to pour it out)
- Add the tomatoes and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the meat has started to stick to the bottom of the pan. About 20 minutes.
- Boil the pasta according to the package instructions
- Add the water, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook gently for about 2 hours. This gives the sauce time to thicken and become fully flavored. Season to taste.
- Toss the cooked pasta in the bolognese to reheat, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan and parsley and serve. (it's even better on the second day) - Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to separate half of the sauce in a separate pot to accommodate all of the pasta (thats what I did!)
Where can I buy 1/4 lb of pancetta? Thinking of making your Pasta Bolognese! Looks like great comfort food Sue. Thanks for sending. Keep on cookin? Allie
You can find it at the charcuterie counter at whole foods, or in some deli sections.
Hi! Awesome recipe. I am actaully making this right now becuase it looks DO delicious! However, I am stuck becuas your recipe doesn’t say when to pht the bay leaf and are the rigatoni noodles stuffed? Obviously I’m no chef because my questions sound silly ha! Help! My husband would appreciate it, lol! Thanks!
Of course, I’m sorry I forgot to mention it and that I caught this so late. The noodles are not stuffed and you can add the bay leaf when you add the water. (and if you skipped this step, it doesn’t make much of a difference). Let me know how it turned out!