Monthly Archive for February, 2009

So, I had another go at my nemesis-pasta-sauce on Friday, the classic Italian Bolognese. This time, it came out pretty well! Why do I refer to it as my nemesis? Well, you see… first, it’s my all time favourite pasta-dish. Not because it’s the most delicate flavoured one, and not becuase it’s the most exquisite one, but because it is the one with the most variations on one single recipe… I NEVER get it the same. And that is what I love about it, because it needs, exactly, love, to be successful.

This variation is supposed to be with chicken liver… but because of bad planning and the lack of availability of this hard-to-get product, I made mine without it. Anyhow, here it is:

What you need for about 4 persons:
- 400grams of ground (minced) beef or veal
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 chinese garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 2 celery stalk
- approx 100grams of pancetta (or a nice bacon)
- between 25 and 50 grams of porcini (dried mushrooms)
- 1 can of high quality ITALIAN tin tomatoes OR 400grams of passata
- 5dl of beef stock
- 1 table spoon tomato puree
- 4 table spoons of dry red wine
- 1 bay leaf
salt and pepper for seasoning
real unsalted butter and extra virgin olive oil

How to do it:
1. Put the mushrooms in cold water (for about 1 – 1,5 hrs)
2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, add finely chopped carrots, onion, garlic and celery – fry this for about 10 minutes.
3. Add meat and diced pancetta or bacon – fry this until the meat is brown. The meat does not need to be cooked through at this point, we still want it to be juicy and soft.
4. Add wine. Turn heat to max and simmer until wine has evaporated. (NO LID!)
5. Turn down heat, add tomatoes and tomato puree and stir well.
6. Add 5dl of stock, bay leaf and some salt and pepper.
7. Bring to boil and then simmer for 2 – 3 hrs. Stir occasionally.
8. Take mushrooms out of water (but don’t throw away the water..)
9. Add chopped mushrooms (and 100g chicken liver if you have) and stir well.
10. Add some of the water from the mushrooms
11. Simmer for another 30 – 50 minutes.

Serve with fresh tagliatelle or spaghetti, fresh brown bread and butter.

The sauce is best when it is thick and rich, and you see the butter and oil start to separate from the sauce at the top of the pan. Add salt and pepper at the end and stir well before serving. There is no set recipe for this dish, so experiment and try your own additions and varieties until you find something you are happy with.

Happy cooking!