Bolognese Sauce By Frugal Gourmet Food

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven, over medium high heat, until the butter is melted. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and sauté until softened and beginning to caramelize, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another couple of minutes, until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper and, using a slotted spoon, remove the soffritto to a plate and reserve.
• Add more olive oil, if needed, and add the pancetta. Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove pancetta and reserve. Working in 2-3 batches so not to over crowd the pot, add ground beef and pork. Season with salt and pepper and cook, breaking lumps with a wooden spoon but resisting the urge to stir too often, until browned, about 10 - 15 minutes. We want the meat to caramelize and the brown bits to stick to the bottom of the pot, as that's where all the flavor is! (See notes.)
• Return the reserved soffritto and pancetta to the pot. Add the white wine and deglaze the pan, scraping all the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Cook until the wine is mostly evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, milk, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer.
• Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 hours or until the liquids have reduced and the sauce is thick. If, by then, the sauce is still too liquid-y, you can turn the heat up and boil - stirring frequently - until it reduces.Some of the fat will separate and float to the top, making it easier to skim it off with a spoon. Discard.
• Stir in heavy cream, parmesan cheese and parsley. Stir vigorously to emulsify. Taste for seasoning and adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.
• Serve, tossed with a wide pasta, like tagliatelle or pappardelle.

BEST EVER BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Fry the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until done (don't drain the bacon grease). Add the butter and the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until softened, 5-7 minutes.
• Add the ground beef, veal, sausage and salt and cook until no pink remains. Add the milk, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
• Add the consomme, white and red wine, tomatoes and all remaining ingredients except for the parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue simmering on very low for another 2 hours. If the bolognese is too runny, uncover and simmer another 30 minutes or until sufficiently thickened. Stir in the parsley and simmer for another minute.
• Serve over pasta (fresh is best) with some freshly grated aged Italian cheese.
• Note: This sauce freezes well and can be used in any pasta dish, including lasagna.

THE BEST BOLOGNESE

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.

SIMPLE BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. This will take approximately 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano.

MARCELLA HAZAN'S BOLOGNESE 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 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.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE BY FRUGAL GOURMET

Steps:

• Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown very well in a frying pan with the olive oil. Place the meat in a small heavy saucepan and add the water, wine, and garlic. Bring to a boil then turn down heat and simmer very gently, covered, for 2 hours. If the pan egins to dry out, add a little more water to prevernt burning. Allow to cool in the pot with the lid on until you can handle it. Shred the meat and place it in a 4-quart pot along with it's cooking juices. Add the remaining ingredients except the parmesan and cream. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring often. Add the cheese and cream and simmer 15 minutes more. Salt and pepper to taste. Click here to view: http://www.kitchenlink.com/msgbrd/board_0/2000/AUG/52098.html

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in about 5 tablespoons olive oil in a large rondeau until soft. Add the pancetta to the soffritto (onion mixture). Cook on a medium-high flame for about 7 to 10 minutes, then add the meat; break it up well with a wooden spoon. Cook's Note: You can jack up the heat a bit, and keep stirring until all the ground meat is browned. Add the red pepper flakes and the parsley and cook for just 1 minute.
• Add the wine now and cook until the alcohol is completely evaporated, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
• Pulse the tomatoes smooth in a food processor and add them to the meat, season generously with salt and pepper, lower the flame to medium and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Finish the sauce by adding the whole milk, stir well and set aside, to cool off.

THE BEST SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE RECIPE

Steps:

• Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil.
• Add 4 finely chopped bacon rashers and fry for 10 mins until golden and crisp.
• Reduce the heat and add the 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, 2 garlic cloves and the leaves from 2-3 sprigs rosemary, all finely chopped, then fry for 10 mins. Stir the veg often until it softens.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, add 500g beef mince and cook stirring for 3-4 mins until the meat is browned all over.
• Add 2 tins plum tomatoes, the finely chopped leaves from ¾ small pack basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 2 bay leaves, 2 tbsp tomato purée, 1 beef stock cube, 1 deseeded and finely chopped red chilli (if using), 125ml red wine and 6 halved cherry tomatoes. Stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up the plum tomatoes.
• Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 1 hr 15 mins stirring occasionally, until you have a rich, thick sauce.
• Add the 75g grated parmesan, check the seasoning and stir.
• When the bolognese is nearly finished, cook 400g spaghetti following the pack instructions.
• Drain the spaghetti and either stir into the bolognese sauce, or serve the sauce on top. Serve with more grated parmesan, the remaining basil leaves and crusty bread, if you like.

ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE-FRUGAL GOURMET

Steps:

• In a 6 quart soup pot, add olive oil, onions, celery, garlic, mushrooms and parsley.
• Cook over med. heat until the vegetables are soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a slow boil.
• Turn down to simmer and let it cook for at least two hours. Stir occasionally. We like ours thick so sometimes I simmer it for three hours. Be sure to take out the bay leaves before serving.
• Great with pasta of your choice. Top with grated parmesan cheese to serve.

"REAL" ITALIAN BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a Dutch Oven or Medium Size Pot, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat until butter begins to froth.
• Add onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and bacon.
• Cook until onions are translucent (about 8 to 10 minutes).
• Remove bacon and remove fat.
• Chop lean portions of bacon in small pieces and return to pot.
• Add Ground beef and ground Pork, and cook until meat loses red, raw color.
• Raise heat and add wine and consomme.
• Cook sauce until wine and consomme are mostly evaporated.
• Turn heat down to simmer and add oregano, salt, pepper, sage, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg.
• Let cook for approximately 20 minutes.
• Add crushed tomatoes and bring heat to a boil.
• Once the mixture comes to a boil, return to simmer.
• Let sauce simmer (very slowly) partially covered for about 2 to 4 hours (the longer the better), stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
• About 5 to 10 minutes before serving, add milk.
• Sauce can now be added to cooked Penne Pasta, Spaghetti or many other Pastas to your liking.
• Remaining sauce may be frozen for up to two months for future use.