Many moons ago I worked for an incredible Italian Chef, who had competed in a World Bolognese competition against chefs from all over the world. He came in 2nd place. I follow his recipe exactly to a T, except I add garlic. So basically this is the 2nd best Bolognese recipe in the world, plus garlic! This is a labor of love and takes about 6 hours to make, so plan ahead.
Ingredients:
1 XL or 2 Medium Yellow Onions, small dice
2 Lg Carrots, small dice
3 stalk Celery, small dice
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
4 oz Pancetta, small dice
4#s Ground Beef 90/10 or 93/7
1 # Ground Pork
2 Bay Leaves
1 Btl Red Wine, good enough to drink, but don’t break the bank
4 – 32 oz containers Beef Stock (you may not use all)
8 oz Whole Milk
1 C Parmigiano Reggiano (splurge for the real deal or if not then a very good quality domestic parmesan, you have a lot of time and money already in this recipe)
Salt & Pepper to taste (season aggressively, there is a lot of meat so you need a lot of seasoning)
Procedure:
- Place the pancetta in a cold, large dutch oven or stock pot. Turn the heat to medium and allow the fat to render slowly. Once the pancetta is a little crispy remove it from the pot and set aside.
- Drain off all but about 2 Tbsp of fat. Add the veggies to the pot and sauté over medium high heat until tender and the onion is translucent.
- Add the ground beef and pork. I like to do this in stages so everything has the room to caramelize in the pan. Break up the meat as you go, but remember this is an all day sauce so save your energy, no need to beat it up at this point.
- Return the crisped pancetta to the party as well as the bay leaves. Add the tomato paste mix until well incorporated. About 1 minute. Pour in the bottle of wine and let it rip on medium, reducing by 90%.
- Once your wine has reduced, add the beef stock to cover the meat generously. As the sauce cooks down you will add more stock as you go, always keeping the meat covered. At this point I cover the sauce with a lid, off to the side – covering by 2/3rds.
- Let it go for about 4 hours, stirring on and off and adding stock as needed. The texture of the sauce/meat should be described as “velvet”. Once you get there you will know what I mean. Add the milk and stir in thoroughly.
- It is now time to cook down the liquid. Bolognese is really about 93% meat with about 7% sauce hanging around in the background. (Refer to my photo). Cook out the remaining liquid until you have reached bolognese consistency.
- Add the cup of Parmesan cheese and mix until well incorporated. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Serve over fresh Tagliatelle for a traditional experience. Serve with more Parmesan Cheese.
