Ragù alla Bolognese

Most things are better when categorized as baby.   Something about the addition of that word insinuates the superlative.  It’s tantamount to decadence.  On your shoulders: Baby lynx.  On your plate: Baby lettuce.  Baby spinach.  Baby back ribs.  So can you guess the magic ingredient here?  Veal, of course.  For no beef is as tender or as tasty as that of the calf.  I don’t make up the rules.  Baby cows are just more delicious.  That said, if using veal bothers you then substitute it.  But I promise it won’t be as tasty.

 

Ingredients:

4 rashers of bacon/pancetta chopped

2 packs of ground veal

1 pack of ground pork

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 large carrot

1 rib of celery including the leaves

1 can of chopped tomatoes

several sprigs of thyme

dry white wine

1/2 cup of stock or 1 bouillon cube (beef is preferable but chicken will do)

olive oil

salt & pepper

 

 

Method:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan and brown the bacon.

 

 

Next add the chopped vegetables.  Sauté for a few minutes until the onions start to caramelize.

 

 

Add the bouillon cube if you’ve not got stock then the ground meats and fresh thyme.  Brown the meat over medium-low heat.

 

 

Then add the can of crushed tomatoes and half a can of white wine.  Or if you’ve got good stock, add a half cup of that and just a splash of wine.  Allow everything to simmer for at least two hours.  This will give the ingredients time to emulsify.   If you cook this properly, nice and slow, your end result will be rich and savory.

 

 

Serve with your favorite pasta and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano, flat leaf parsley, and a few basil leaves.

 

 

 

 

End of the Rainbow Ragù Rustico

Cervantes said “Hunger is the best sauce in the world.”  That’s only because he never tasted my ragù.  This weekend, my family and I rendezvoused with Glossy and her mother, the Baroness Butterscotch von Leibniz.  Our destination was the Baroness’ French cottage which is so deep into the English woods that this is its exact address: Near-a-pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow, Great Britain.

When we all arrived, we were famished.  I mean have you ever traveled to the end of  a rainbow?  It can take all day.  Ask Dorothy or any leprechaun.  That’s why after some champagne and potato chips, I left everyone hearthside to investigate the contents of the kitchen.  Let me share with you the goodness I found and the recipe for the ragù I created.  It’s porcine decadence and will make you feel like the most spoiled spaniel sleeping in front of the fire.

Ingredients:

olive oil

2 medium onions sliced into thin rounds

4 smashed garlic cloves

1 1/2 to 2 pounds of sausage (really porky but not too fatty)

1 cup Manzanilla sherry (divided into 1/4 cups)

3/4 to 1 cup chicken stock

a large bunch of fresh thyme taken off the stem and chopped (save a tablespoon)

1 tablespoon sea salt

a twist of pepper

500 grams of your favorite pasta (I like Rustichella d’Abruzzo linguine)

lots of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Method:

First, brown the sausages and set them aside.  Next, caramelize the onions with some olive oil on medium-low heat for about five minutes.  Sir them with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking.  When the onions have gone all soft and sweet and caramelly, add the smashed garlic cloves and stir for a minute more.

Boil a large pot of water to make your pasta.  Tend to it as the manufacturer recommends.

Now, chop the sausages.  Add them to a saucepan with the onions and garlic.  Sauté for a minute or two with most of the thyme.  Make sure the sausage is cooked and no pink bits remain, but don’t let anything get crispy–use low heat.  Now add a 1/4 cup of sherry to the mix and continue stirring.  Cook down until it looks like a glaze.  Alternate a bit of chicken stock with 1/4 cup sherry until you’ve used up all the liquid called for in this recipe.  What you want is for the liquid to be more of a glaze than a soup.  When it’s done, take it off the heat and add the remaining thyme as well as the salt and pepper.  In a large bowl, mix this ragù over your favorite pasta and sprinkle liberally with cheese.