Not Your Typical Everyday Ragu

Bolognese Meat Sauce

Source for riff: Marcella Hazan’s “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”

1T vegetable oil
3T butter
½ C chopped onion (roughly 2/3 a medium-sized onion)
2/3 C chopped celery (roughly 2 stalks)
2/3 C chopped carrot (roughly 1 medium)
½ Lb ground chuck (this should be fairly well-marbled)
¼ Lb ground pork
salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 C whole milk
whole nutmeg
1C dry white wine
28 oz. canned diced roma tomatoes in their juice

Pasta of choice. Tagliatelle is the preferred noodle, but here we used a whole-wheat fusilli which is equally yummy. Anything, apparently, but spaghetti, because according to Hazan and despite popular notions, the real deal in Bologna is never, ever served over such pedestrian noodles.

Cook oil, butter and chopped onion in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until the onion has become translucent. Add celery and carrots, stir to coat and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add the meat, a generous pinch of salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat has just lost its redness. It should be just barely pink.

Add the milk. Simmer gently and stir frequently until the milk has evaporated. Once evaporated, grate a tiny amount of nutmeg into the pot and stir.

Add the wine and simmer until the wine has evaporated.

Add tomatoes and stir thoroughly. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat to low. Cook uncovered long, low and slow, with just an occasional bubble bursting the tomato-ey surface. Plan on waiting at least 3 hours before eating, though you can certainly steal a taste when stirring occasionally.

If the sauce dries out, add just enough water (or wine) to keep it from sticking to the pot. The sauce should not be at all watery when ready to serve, however.

To serve, prepare pasta. Top al dente noodles with a generous ladleful of sauce and serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Suggested Pairings:

Ramazzotti Wines 2008 Sangiovese | $25  A crowd-pleaser. Bright red fruits and spice and a smooth finish with hints of cocoa and leather.
Ramazzotti Wines 2009 Grenache Noir | $20 Cherry and berry flavors, finishing with earth and coffee. Made in a style that produces similar to a fresh and fruity Beaujolais.
Sheldon 2007 Santa Ynez Valley Grenache | $25 A food-friendly wine with red fruit, wild berries and spice.