Pasta Bolgnese

Pasta Bolgnese

To help with your New Years Weight Loss Resolution. < wink, wink ;) >

There is a little know fact in America. That is that pasta needs to be matched to the sauce. For this sauce choose a big hearty noodle like rigatoni or penne rigate.

This is my favorite dishes in the whole world. It is also one of the simplest as far as ingredients and methods.  The trade off is that it is a fairly time intensive process.  There are no shortcuts, and each step is critical to the end product.

Pasta Bolgnese

2 cups Mirequoix
1/2 stick Butter (I know you think Italian you think Olive Oil, but you would be wrong.)
1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground  beef
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can tomatoe sauce
1/2 can tomatoe paste

These brown bits on the bottom of the pan is the fond (foundation) of this recipe. They should be there at the end of each ingredient step until you add the tomatoes.

Start by melting the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter stops foaming and starts browning add the Mirepoix along with two pinches of kosher salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper.  Cook on the same heat until fond (brown bits of goodness on the bottom of the pan) forms the more the better so keep scraping the bottom of the pan.  Fond is the key to this dish and each ingredient is added only after fond starts to form from the previous ingredient.

Add the meat and repeat the process until things are sticking to the bottom of the pan again. Add the milk repeat. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook until very dry and everything is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the chopped tomatoes and scrap the bottom of the pan thoroughly to get all the fond into the sauce add the sauce and paste. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and reduce the heat to low and simmer for at least 4 hours. Taste add salt as needed.

Also it can be a messy recipe. Be sure to have a lid loosely covering the pot to help catch some of the splashes.

Cook the pasta just short of Al Denne drain add back to the pot along with one cup per pound of pasta and allow pasta to finish cooking in the sauce. Don’t for get to stir or you will have a mess on the bottom of the pan. Plate add more sauce on top and go crazy with the Parmigiano Reggiono

Yes I know this is a long complicated process, but trust me it is soooo worth it.

PS I read some where that people pay more attention to picture captions than anything else. Was that true??

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4 responses to “Pasta Bolgnese”

  1. Nice photos. Nice recipe. I must try this!!!!

    PS I must not be normal. I noticed the captions but only read them after reading the entire blog post. Maybe if the type size was the same as the blog content and the gray border was on the left side I would’ve noticed them more. That’s just my opinion and I’m weird.

  2. I read the article but mostly looked at the pictures; I did not even notice the captions until you mentioned it. Of course I am in a hurry and that might have something to do with it. Oh, this was yummy! Of course, you might want to explain why this would be for weight loss, since it includes some hefty ingredients.

  3. Thanks so much for sharing this on foodfeed today! My husband will love me for it. Hope you’ll chime in more often on Thursday foodfeeds!!

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