My Father’s Bolognese (or at least what I can remember of it)

My father made this meat sauce almost every day. When I happened to be at the restaurant, I’d help, so a lot of this is from memory – both mine and some of his friends’. All I know is that it smells (and tastes) like I remember and when you’re cooking from the hip, that’s all you’re really hoping for.

Also, a note about the cooking times and things like that – my pots and stovetop aren’t the same as yours. I give you ballpark times, but keep an eye on things – if it’s looking good and it’s only been cooking for about 8 minutes and I suggested 10-15, there’s a good chance it is done. Trust your eyes, ears, nose and gut. In the end if it looks like something you want to eat, you probably did it right.

What you need:

Olive oil & butter

¼ prosciutto – ground or finely diced

5 cloves of garlic - minced

1 cup of carrots – ground or finely diced

1 cup of celery – ground or finely diced

1 cup of onions – ground or finely diced

1lb of ground pork

1lb of ground beef

½ cup white wine (pref dry chabliss)

28 oz can of tomato sauce (pref san marzano, whole, crush ‘em yourself by hand, run through a ricer/strainer to get rid of the seeds.

Couple of teaspoons of heavy cream

Salt & pepper

Pinch of sugar

Grated parmesan cheese

What you do:

1) Take good sized pot or sauce pan, bring heat to medium-high and throw in your butter and oil (really just enough to coat your pan. Start with 4 tablespoons of butter and ¼ cup of olive oil and see how that looks. The veggies and meat will soak up a lot of it).

2) Add your prosciutto till it starts to brown – between 5-10 minutes.

3) Add all your garlic and veggies until they get soft – around another 10 minutes or so.

4) Add your meat. Season with salt, pepper. Break up with a spoon and cook through till it’s gray – 10-15 minutes.

5) Add your white wine and let it reduce, cooking for another 10 minutes or so.

6) Add your tomato sauce, reduce heat to simmer, add your sugar and stir through – let it cook for around an hour and a half. You don’t want it too soupy or too dry, so start cooking without a cover, but have one handy in case you start getting too dry. You can always add a little water or stock.

7) Just before you’re ready to serve, add your cream and stir through. Taste and adjust seasonings.

8) Toss sauce with pasta, dish out, top with freshly grated parm. Eat.