Recipe: Bolognese Meat Sauce (Italian)

BOLOGNESE MEAT SAUCE

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
3/4 pound ground beef chuck (not too lean)
Table salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup whole milk
Whole nutmeg
1 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta, cooked and drained
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table

Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent.

Add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about two minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.

Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.

Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely.

Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon, of nutmeg, and stir. Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for three hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding 1/2 cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

TO SERVE:
Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated parmesan on the side.

NOTES:
Use a pot that retains heat. Earthenware is preferred, but enameled cast-iron pans or a pot whose heavy bottom is composed of layers of steel alloys are fully satisfactory. If you cannot watch the sauce for 3 to 4 hours at a time, turn off the heat whenever you need to leave and resume cooking later on; as long as you complete the sauce within the same day. Once done, you can refrigerate the sauce in a tightly sealed container for three days or freeze it.

Makes 6 servings
Source: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan