snowy park

30 January 2014

Welcome friends. I am going to say this at the start of this post. The secret to this sauce is a long and slow simmer. This allows the flavors to develop and become more concentrated. As you make it, you should allow 3 to 4 hours for the sauce to simmer. You don't have to stand over it the whole time. It needs very little attention. You could even make it and throw it in a slow cooker for 4 hours. Keep in mind that this is old school cooking, from a time when people had all day to spend in the kitchen.

I generally like to make my sauces the day before I plan to use them, because I think they taste better the next day. I also save this kind of cooking for the weekend. My pasta of choice is a spinach taglietelle and I like to add some fresh spinach or arugula to the bowl before I put the pasta in. A fresh fettuccine is another good option. I don't usually make a fresh pasta for this sauce.

This recipe has evolved from a recipe that appeared in Cooking Light back in October of 2002. I gave up buying pasta sauces a long time ago (I was trying to get away from additives and sugar) and have been making my own ever since. The use of milk in this recipe is what sparked my curiosity. A more traditional recipe would use fattier cuts of meat, but I like a lean ground turkey paired with a ground round.

Another benefit to making your own sauce is that you can make a lot. I usually make this and freeze some of it. Sometimes I give some of it away to friends. It freezes well, but I like pasta so it gets used quickly. As I stare at the photo of pasta, I am slowly talking myself into making more this weekend.

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Bolognese Ragù

1 hr prep time | 3 to 4 hr simmer time | chill overnight

bowl of bolognese and pasta

Ingredients

serves 8 to 10

  • 2 Tbl olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 celery stalks, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 pound ground round
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 Tbl balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbl worcestershire sauce
  • 3/4 cup red wine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 can (10.75 oz) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)

Directions

heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrots. Saute these for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onion pieces should be translucent. Place the vegetables in a heat proof bowl and set aside. You can place the diced tomatoes and vegetables in a food processor and give it a few pulses while the meat browns, if you do not like a chunky sauce.

place the meats into the pot. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, balsamic, worcestershire sauce, and stir together. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break the ground meat into small pieces as it cooks. Continue to cook until the meat has browned, stirring occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes. Add the wine and bay leaf and cook for another 5 minutes.

add the vegetables, stock, and both cans of tomatoes to the pot. Stir until everything is combined, and reduce the heat to simmer. Cover and allow the sauce to simmer for about 2 hours over low heat. Stir the sauce occasionally.

stir the milk into the sauce, adding about ¼ cup into the sauce at a time. With each addition, stir until the milk has been completely integrated into the sauce. After all of the milk has been incorporated, simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaf and allow the sauce to cool. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.