Crossover Beef Blends Spaghetti Bolognese
INGREDIENTS
Yield: 2 cups sauce, enough for 1 ½ lbs of pasta
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1 tbsp olive oil
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3 tbsps butter plus 1 tbsp for tossing the pasta
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½ cup chopped onion
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2/3 cup chopped celery
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2/3 cup chopped carrot
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¾ lb Crossover Beef Blends
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Kosher salt
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Freshly ground black pepper
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1 cup whole milk
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Whole nutmeg
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1 cup dry white wine
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1 ½ cups (1/2 of a 28 oz can) canned imported whole Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
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1 ¼ to 1 1/2 lbs pasta
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Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese at the table
Instructions
1) Put oil, butter and chopped onion in a heavy enameled cast iron Dutch oven (or other heavy bottomed pot), and turn on the heat to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent (but not browned), then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.
2) Add the Crossover Beef Blends, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the Crossover Beef Blends has lot its raw, red color.
3) The next steps take patience. Do not rush this process.
4) Add the milk and let it simmer gently, (you may need to adjust the heat under the pot) stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating – approximately 1/8 tsp – of nutmeg, and stir.
5) Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding ½ cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
6) Cook your pasta.
7) Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.
8) This sauce freezes beautifully and I recommend making a double batch if you have a large enough pot. Eat ½ and freeze the other ½ to enjoy another day.
Adapted from Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Meat Sauce
