August 29, 2013

Hubby's "Cherry Poppin" Bolognese




Bolognese over rotini


The Hubs and I are about to go on our belated honeymoon so,  of course this means we have to clean out our refrigerator before we leave.  After thinking about everything we had in there, all I could think was BOLOGNESE.  I am a Filipino with a crazy obsession with pasta. Hello I put effing pasta bowls on our wedding registry!  When I asked the hubs what he thought, he asks, "What is bolognese?'  I'm like WTF? You poor poor deprived boy (He did not have frosty and french fries or PB and bananas until the age of 30). Naturally I had to make sure that his first bolognese experience was a good one.  Mind you, this would be so much better on the weekend when it had 4 hours to simmer, but this was a Wednesday night, so all had to be done at a reasonable hour.


Simmering away



Bolognese Sauce
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter
1 yellow onion, small dice
2 carrots, small dice
2 celery stalks, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz bacon, diced (i had jowl bacon)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 lb ground bison (lean beef works too, just had this in the freezer).
1/2 lb ground pork (optional).  I did not have that on hand so its not in here
4 Hanover tomatoes, skinned, 2 diced, 2 pureed
1/2 cup sherry or any dry white wine.
1 cup milk
1/2 c red wine.

Heat oil and butter in a large stockpot over medium heat.  Once butter is melted, add onions, garlic, butter, and carrots and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the bacon and saute for an additional 5 minutes.  Add tomato paste and ground beef and cook until beef is browned.  Add tomatoes, sherry, and milk, and simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally (or if you have all the time in the world, lower the temp to low and simmer for 4 horus). Remember this sauce is about the meat, so dont be scurred of all the liquid  After an hour, and halfway though a bottle of wine, I checked on my sauce, and with glass of red wine in my hand I thought, why the hell not, and poured some red wine in there too.   I simmered it down for an additional 30 minutes until thickened.  I served this over some  Rozoni Garden Delights rotini, because you can't get enough veggie,s and grated some Trade Joe's Unexpected Cheddar on top.

Note - The Hubs was sooo happy about this that he ate two bowls full.  Not this smartest meal to make before going on vacay to a sunny locale.  Oh well, here come two beached whales!


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