Not Bolognese
Every kid of Italian descent believes that his / her mom makes the best spaghetti sauce. Even though my mom is Cuban, she learned from my dad’s mom who was from Calabria.
Having grown up with a lot of first, second, and third generation Italians, I can tell you for sure that not all Italian moms cook well, but their kids believe they are the best. It really is cute, in a nauseating kind of way.
Of course I grew up with Sunday (gravy) and meat sauce, but not real authentic Bolognese.
1) Bologna is pretty far from Calabria
2) Most home recipes were passed by word of mouth and demonstration, but not written
Momaluke stirring the pot was the YouTube of yore.
Now I have issue with tradition and authentic as it relates to deliciousness. That is not to say that the authentic recipe is not delicious, but it is not always the best version. Things evolve.
This recipe is not Bolognese, but it is the best “Bolognese” sauce that I’ve had, but I’ve not had them all.
Equipment
Dutch oven, or other pot that can go in the oven at 350°
A decent knife, Sicilians should know about this.
1 LB 85% Ground Beef
1 LB Ground Veal
8 OZ Sweet Italian Sausage – casing removed
4 OZ fine diced Pancetta
250 Grams Yellow Onion fine dice
125 Grams Carrot fine dice
125 Grams Celery fine dice
3 cloves garlic minced
6 OZ unsalted tomato paste
28 OZ can San Marzano plum tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups unsalted beef stock
2 cups whole or 2% milk
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
2 TBS chopped fresh basil
1 tsp salt
¼ cup grated Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350°
Brown the beef and the veal. Season with a tiny bit of salt and pepper. Depending on the diameter of the pot do it together or in batches. Break up the meat to a crumble. It should resemble coarse sand.
Make sure you brown the meat to the point where it is just about frying in its own fat and browning.
Remove the beef and veal from the pot.
Brown the sausages. Break up the sausages the same way, like coarse sand. When the sausages have rendered some fat, add the pancetta. Brown the pancetta and sausage until they are nicely browned.
Remove the sausage and pancetta from the pot using a slotted spoon to reserve the fat on the pot.
Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the pot. Season with a tiny bit of salt and pepper. Sauté until they soften. When they soften, add the garlic. As they soften, the released liquid with dissolve some of the browned meat on the bottom of the pot.
Add the Italian seasoning and fresh parsley and basil.
Sauté a bit longer then deglaze with ¼ of the red wine. Scrape up all of the browned bits at the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomato paste and stir well.
Add all of the meat and stir well.
Add the rest of the red wine.
Hand crush the tomatoes into the pot. Stir it all up.
Add the beef stock.
Stir it well, cover and place it in the 350° oven for an hour. Stir every 15 / 20 minutes, if you remember.
After an hour, add 2 cups of milk, stir well and return to the oven for another hour.
Remove from the oven, and sir in the grated Romano cheese.
Add the final teaspoon of salt, (but only if you need it) recall, my beef stock was unsalted as were all of the other ingredients used except for maybe the San Marzano tomatoes.
Sprinkle some fresh black pepper, and you are done.
Here's the beef stock recipe
Kiss yourself for making deliciousness.
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