Coming at you again as a non-cheesemonger but a self proclaimed pasta-monger with yet another pasta recipe. I know this a wintery recipe, but I’ve been craving a warm, comforting bowl of pasta and this rainy weather is the perfect excuse to make it.
As with cheeses and pasta shapes, every city in Italy has its own version of a ragu. Tuscan ragu often uses cinta senese pigs or wild boar. Sicilian ragu uses fresh tomato puree. And in Emilia Romagna, bolognese is the name of the game. Traditional bolognese uses ground beef and a bit of pancetta to attain a rich, flavorful sauce. It cooks for hours and hours and is truly a labor of love.
If you’re looking for a super traditional recipe, this one is not for you. Please click here for the classic. This recipe uses ground pork instead of beef and tons of parmigiano reggiano to create that rich, flavorful sauce that goes perfectly on fresh pasta. The recipe does take a few hours, but most of that time is entirely hands off, letting the meat break down and the sauce thicken.
It’s a little taboo to mess with a bolognese recipe. I’d probably be banned from Bologna for life if they knew. But in my opinion, the ground pork adds extra flavor from the extra fat content, and the addition of the garlic is key for the rich, comforting, Italian flavor I’m looking for. I also like to garnish with some fresh basil for some of color and brightness. Brings a hint of summer into this otherwise wintery dish.
Serves 4-6
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large carrot
1 stock celery
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup tomato paste
1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
1 cup dry white wine (unoaked chardonnay or pinot grigio work well)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated (plus more for garnish)
Salt & Pepper
1 lb dry or 1.5lb fresh pasta
Cut carrot, celery, and onion into large chunks, then pulse them in a food processor with the garlic until minced. Set aside.
Place a large dutch oven over medium heat and add olive oil. Add your ground pork and brown for 3 minutes, breaking the meat apart with the back of a wooden spoon. Add your minced vegetables and cook over medium heat for another 2-4 minutes until vegetables are soft and aromatic. Season with salt and pepper.
Add tomato paste and nutmeg and mix with wooden spoon to incorporate. Cook another 2-4 minutes to brown the tomato slightly, then add the white wine. Mix well and cook until most of the liquid has cooked off before adding your chicken stock and milk.
Mix to incorporate, turn heat to simmer, and leave uncovered for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken and the meat will continue to break down in this stage.
After 2+ hours, boil well salted water and cook pasta to 2 minutes shy of the suggested package time. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before straining.
Turn the heat on your sauce back up to medium/high and add in your cooked pasta, pasta water, and grated parmigiano . Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce.
Serve garnished with extra parmigiano reggiano & a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil!
