This is an adaptation of Marcella Hazan’s famous bolognese sauce. I put a lot more tomato and a lot more meat in it. Toss it with spaghetti or use it in a lasagna.

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Time: 3-5 hours

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Medium onion, diced
• A couple of stalks of celery, chopped
• A couple of carrots, chopped (try to match the celery for volume)
• 1.5 pounds ground beef
• Half a pound of ground pork
• Freshly ground nutmeg, about 1/8 of a teaspoon
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Three 24 ounce tins of whole Italian tomatoes
• Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano to serve
• 1 cup whole milk
• 6 oz of tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine, optional
• 1.5 pounds pasta

Method

• Oil, butter and chopped onion in the pan, medium heat
• Cook until the onion is transluscent
• Add the celery and carrot, cook for about 2 minutes, stirring to coat
• Add the meat, some salt and the pepper
• Crumble the meat and cook until it’s lost the raw red color
• Add the milk and let it simmer
• Stir frequently until the milk has evaporated
• Add the wine, let it simmer until evaporated
• Add the nutmeg and stir
• Add the tomato paste and the tomatoes, stir well, crushing them as much as possible
• Once it’s bubbling,turn down the heat and let it simmer lazily for 3-5 hours
• It if starts to reduce a bit too much, you can add some water, or you can call it done and eat it then 🤷
• Salt for taste

Notes

• I’ve used wine once or twice, and it’s nice, but really not necessary unless you’re totally feeling it. Using red instead of white makes it a bit richer.