Weekend Dinner- Pasta Bolognese

I watched Chef Anne cook this on TV a couple weeks ago.  It looked amazing...and I'm a sucker for pasta, so I have to give this a try.  Plus it's a good 'ol traditional Tuscan pasta sauce...love me some authentic Italian food!  This is a great dish to make over the weekend....for one, it's time consuming and you need hours to cook it, and two...it'll make great leftovers for the rest of the week.  The ingredients are simple...the most difficult part will be setting aside time to cook.  It's also not the most healthy dish...lots of salt, but hey if you can't indulge once in awhile....well then.  I've attached the video of this too, so you can see what Chef Anne does.  I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!  Happy cooking!


*Note:  don't be afraid of how long the directions are.  This dish is very simple to make, it just takes a long time.  Read through the directions a couple of times and you'll be good to go.  :)

Here is a video of Chef Anne cooking the dish.  It's fun to watch and you get a good idea of how to create the dish.

My steps along the way.... browning the veggies and browning the meat.

After adding the tomato paste and then with the water added....

Okay so I forgot to take a photo of the finished sauce....guests showed up, 5 kids in the house...yeah, got a little busy.  I need to mention that I only added the water once.  Mine never cooked out enough for me to need to add more water... and I let it go for over 4 hours.  But...it tasted AMAZING!!!!  and, it did get to the proper consistency....just didn't need additional water.


I used Bucatini pasta....which is like spaghetti, but it's hollow on the inside.  This tasted like a dish right out of the restaurant in Italy.  No joke.  Guests gave it rave reviews and there wasn't a lick of leftovers.  This was totally worth the half day of cooking...AND....BONUS!....it makes enough sauce for you to have a whole 'nother dinner.  I'm going to freeze the sauce and use in a couple of weeks.


Trust me, you won't be disappointed in this.  And make sure to follow her instructions.  Add the salt...brown everything....it's perfect.  Make this a dish you treat yourself to once a month.  Fabulous!!!  Fantastic!!!  5 stars.


Pasta Bolognese (Recipe courtesy Anne Burrell)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion or 2 small, cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 large carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan
• Kosher salt
• 3 pounds ground chuck, brisket or round or combination
• 2 cups tomato paste
• 3 cups hearty red wine
• Water
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 bunch thyme, tied in a bundle
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• High quality extra-virgin olive oil, for finishing

Directions

In a food processor, puree onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into a coarse paste. In a large pan over medium heat, coat pan with oil. Add the pureed veggies and season generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and cook until all the water has evaporated and they become nice and brown, stirring frequently, about 15 to 20 minutes. Be patient, this is where the big flavors develop.

Add the ground beef and season again generously with salt. BROWN THE BEEF! Brown food tastes good. Don't rush this step. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook until brown about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red wine. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, another 4 to 5 minutes.

Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat. Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As the water evaporates you will gradually need to add more, about 2 to 3 cups at a time. Don't be shy about adding water during the cooking process, you can always cook it out. This is a game of reduce and add more water. This is where big rich flavors develop. If you try to add all the water in the beginning you will have boiled meat sauce rather than a rich, thick meaty sauce. Stir and TASTE frequently. Season with salt, if needed (you probably will). Simmer for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the spaghetti. Pasta water should ALWAYS be well salted. Salty as the ocean! TASTE IT! If your pasta water is under seasoned it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your complete dish will always taste under seasoned. When the water is at a rolling boil add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than it calls for on the package. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

While the pasta is cooking remove 1/2 of the ragu from the pot and reserve.

Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the remaining ragu. Stir or toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved sauce, if needed, to make it about an even ratio between pasta and sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and sauce together over a medium heat until the water has reduced. Turn off the heat and give a big sprinkle of Parmigiano and a generous drizzle of the high quality finishing olive oil. Toss or stir vigorously. Divide the pasta and sauce into serving bowls or 1 big pasta bowl. Top with remaining grated Parmigiano. Serve immediately.