Pasta Bolognese

~I have had several versions of Bolognese both homemade and restaurant quality. Neither of which piqued my interest until my fellow foodie Ms. T (grudgingly) passed along her recipe. Not only did it include a generous amount of Chardonnay (not a red!) but contained fish sauce. I was intrigued. I am the first to admit I fail miserably in following directions. As such, I’ve tweaked with her original version a bit. It’s meaty, robust in flavor, and the Chardonnay gives it such a wonderful aroma. This is easily my new favorite pasta sauce.

*Cook’s Note: this makes for a considerable batch of sauce. You can either half the recipe or just reserve the sauce. However, if you decide to make the full version with sauce and pasta, it would be a good idea to have some of the pasta water on hand when you reheat the leftovers.

Special Equipment:

Dutch oven or wide bottom pan with tall sides

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef (80% lean, 20% fat)

1 lb raw mild Italian sausage or country sausage- casings removed

4 slices of Hickory smoked thick cut bacon- diced

2 carrots- peeled and diced

2 stalks celery- diced

1 small onion- finely minced

1 shallot- finely minced

¼ fennel bulb- diced

4 garlic cloves- minced

8oz tomato paste

14.5oz diced fire roasted garlic tomatoes

½ bottle Chardonnay

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 ½ tbsp sugar

1 tsp fresh thyme

32oz spaghetti or pasta shape of your choice
basil- chiffonade (optional)

Directions:

1. Set pan or Dutch oven on medium heat. Cook bacon until edges begin to crisp. Move bacon aside from the center heat ring and add sausage meat. As sausage cooks, break off into small chunks.
2. Once sausage is about 2/3 of the way cooked, move aside and add beef. Once beef begins to brown, mix all meats together until cooked.
3. Carefully drain out most of the oil and set Dutch oven back onto heat. Move meat away from the center heat and add carrots, celery, garlic, shallots, onions, and fennel.  Cook for about 5-7min or until aromatics begin to caramelize.
4. Move aromatics away from center as much as possible and add tomato paste to lightly toast for 1min.
5. Add fire roasted tomatoes and mix contents together thoroughly. Add wine, thyme and bay leaves, fish sauce, and sugar. Mix again. Lower heat to a low simmer. Cover and let simmer for about 1hr.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside.
7. Cook pasta in salted water until al dente.
8. Reserve about 1/3 cup of pasta water. Drain rest of pasta, do not rinse.
9. Return Dutch oven to heat. Add hot pasta to Bolognese and mix thoroughly. If pasta looks a bit dry, add small splashes of pasta water. 
10. Serve immediately. Garnish with basil if desired.