Best 5 A Day Bolognese Recipes

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MARCELLA HAZAN'S BOLOGNESE SAUCE



Marcella Hazan's Bolognese Sauce image

After the death in 2013 of Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author who changed the way Americans cook Italian food, The Times asked readers which of her recipes had become staples in their kitchens. Many people answered with one word: "Bolognese." Ms. Hazan had a few recipes for the classic sauce, and they are all outstanding. This one appeared in her book "The Essentials of Classic Italian Cuisine," and one reader called it "the gold standard." Try it and see for yourself.

Provided by The New York Times

Categories     dinner, pastas, main course

Time 4h

Yield 2 heaping cups, for about 6 servings and 1 1/2 pounds pasta

Number Of Ingredients 14

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
3/4 pound ground beef chuck (or you can use 1 part pork to 2 parts beef)
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1 cup whole milk
Whole nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table

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 vegetables to coat them well.
  • Add 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 milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating -- about 1/8 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, add 1/2 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.

CLASSIC BOLOGNESE



Classic Bolognese image

I make many meat-based sauces, or ragu. The original ragu alla Bolognese (meat sauce) dates to the late 19th century and is credited to a cook named Pellegrino Artusi, in 1891. Though it is named for Bologna, Italy, it was first cooked or created in the town of a lesser-known name, Imola, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Serve this sauce with egg tagliatelle or pappardelle or layer it between egg pasta sheets with bechamel for lasagna alla Bolognese.

Provided by Rachael Ray : Food Network

Categories     main-dish

Time 3h50m

Yield 4 to 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 20

2 tablespoons EVOO
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 ribs celery with leafy tops, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 bay leaf
1/4 pound meaty pancetta, finely chopped
1 pound ground beef (80 to 85 percent lean)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 scant teaspoon ground white pepper
About 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
A quarter to a third of a 750-milliliter bottle of white wine
2 cups whole milk
One 28-ounce can diced or crushed Italian tomatoes
1 cup beef bone broth or stock plus 1 cup to reserve
1 small chunk cheese rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano, optional
1 pound egg tagliatelle or pappardelle
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
A handful of fresh basil, leaves torn

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.

THE BEST BOLOGNESE



The Best Bolognese image

Our bolognese is rich and meaty, yet surprisingly light on the tomato. Instead, its base is made from a classic combination of wine and milk. The combination of pork, beef and pancetta adds a complex depth of flavor that using one type of meat couldn't provide. A Parmesan rind is another key ingredient. If you have homemade chicken stock, now is the time to use it. We tried it with boxed broth but weren't thrilled with the results, so we prefer water instead.

Provided by Food Network Kitchen

Categories     main-dish

Time 3h15m

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 18

3/4 pound ground beef
3/4 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 large stalks celery, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
1 medium yellow onion, cut into 1/8-inch pieces
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 2/3 cups dry white wine
2 cups homemade chicken stock or water
2 cups milk
1 large Parmesan rind
1 pound fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle, or dry rigatoni
Grated Parmesan, for serving

Steps:

  • Combine the beef and pork in a large bowl. "Pull" the ground meat apart with two forks as if you were shredding pulled pork, breaking up the clumps and incorporating the meat without compacting it. Continue to pull the meat apart until thoroughly mixed and no clumps remain.
  • Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Cook the pancetta, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and is golden brown on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer the pancetta with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, leaving the fat in the pot.
  • Spread half of the ground meat in an even layer in the pot and cook undisturbed until lightly golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, breaking up any clumps with the back of a spoon and scraping up any browned bits from the pot, until the meat is lightly browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer the browned meat with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the pancetta, leaving the fat in the pot. Repeat with the remaining ground meat.
  • Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, celery, carrots, onions, bay leaf, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender but not browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and brick red, about 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, bring to a boil and cook until it reduces and thickens and no smell of alcohol remains, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the stock, milk and browned meat.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the Parmesan rind and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated away and the mixture resembles sloppy joes, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. There shouldn't be any rapid bubbles while cooking. Instead, the sauce should release occasional small bubbles. If you have a small burner you should use it; the larger burners even at their lowest setting might cook the sauce too quickly. If the sauce reduces too quickly, add 1/2 cup of stock or water and continue cooking; repeat if necessary. The sauce needs the full 2 to 2 1/2 hour cook time to develop the flavors.
  • Discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Use the back of a spoon to break up any remaining clumps of meat for an even-textured sauce. Season with salt and keep warm.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta. If using fresh pasta, cook about 3 minutes. If using dry, cook until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package directions.
  • Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid, then drain the pasta and transfer to the sauce. Increase the heat to medium, bring the sauce to a simmer and cook, tossing the pasta constantly, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce is slightly thickened, adding pasta cooking liquid if necessary, about 2 minutes.
  • Transfer the pasta to a platter and top with grated Parmesan.

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