beef bolognese

This dish is unbelievably simple - just dice up some veggies, saute, add meat, milk, white wine and canned tomatoes, and leave it to simmer by itself, yet the result is amazing. The only thing was that it took a long time.


Even though the recipe said that it only takes 10-15 minutes each for the milk and wine to evaporate, I found that it took me up to 20 minutes, or even more. Maybe the heat wasn't high enough, but it did say "simmer"!

I substituted 1% milk for whole milk and I think any kind of milk would work as well. I also cut the amount of butter down to 2 tablespoons and doubt that it caused any significant loss. As for the dry white wine, I used Vermouth (which, by the way, is an extremely useful thing to stock in the kitchen. You can use Vermouth for any recipe that calls for dry white wine.)


In the end, I did forget to tend to the fire and some of the meat got burned, but it still tasted amazing over the fettucine (hahaha, yeah let's pretend that nothing happened). It had that rich meaty flavor to it, which completely blended in with the tomato sauce. I highly recommend trying out this recipe if you have the time over the weekends. Make a big batch and freeze for quick weeknight meals!

Oh, and remember to not drain the pasta meticulously and leave some water clinging to it - it will help the sauce blend in better.

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BEEF BOLOGNESE
(Adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
Makes 3 cups, enough for 1 pound of pasta

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons minced carrot
2 tablespoons minced celery
3/4 pound ground beef chuck
Table salt
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes , packed in juice, chopped fine, with juice reserved

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat butter in large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, carrot, and celery and sautè until softened but not browned, about 6 minutes. Add ground meat and 1/2 teaspoon salt; following illustration below, crumble meat with edge of wooden spoon to break apart into tiny pieces. Cook, continuing to crumble meat, just until it loses its raw color but has not yet browned, about 3 minutes.

2. Add milk and bring to simmer; continue to simmer until milk evaporates and only clear fat remains, 10 to 15 minutes. Add wine and bring to simmer; continue to simmer until wine evaporates, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to low so that sauce continues to simmer just barely, with an occasional bubble or two at the surface, until liquid has evaporated, about 3 hours (if lowest burner setting is too high to allow such a low simmer, use a flame tamer or a foil ring (see related Quick Tip) to elevate pan). Adjust seasonings with extra salt to taste and serve. (Can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days or frozen for several months. Warm over low heat before serving.)