bolognese sauce

rob LOVES italian food, and he constantly wants to eat pastas and pizzas.  bolognese sauce is the backbone to so many italian dishes...so here's an amazing recipe you can use as the main ingredient for things like lasagna, pasta, etc.  fyi - i recommend making this on a saturday or sunday, when you have a couple extra hours to cook.  enjoy!

ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 pound lean ground beef

- 2 medium onion, roughly chopped

- 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

- 1 carrot, roughly chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 8 strips of thick cut bacon (not the flavored stuff though!), cut into 1/2-inch pieces

- 1 handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

- 2 tablespoons tomato paste

- 1 bay leaf

- 2/3 cup white wine

- 2/3 cup milk

- 2 (14.5 oz) cans chopped tomatoes

- 1/2 cup chicken or beef broth

- red pepper flakes

- s&p

directions:

- heat a large casserole (like a le creuset) or frying pan over high heat and add olive oil

- after about 30 seconds, add the ground beef (the meat should sizzle).  break up the meat with a wood spoon and cook for about 10 minutes until brown.  transfer the meat to a bowl.

- add the chopped bacon into the pan and fry for 10 minutes, until crisp and golden and the fat has run out of the meat

- meanwhile, put the onion, celery, carrot and garlic gloves into a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (note: if you don't have a food processor, just finely chop the vegetables by hand)

- add the vegetable medley to the bacon and turn down the heat to low-medium.  stir and cook for 10 minutes

- return the ground beef to the pan and add basil leaves

- stir in tomato paste, white wine and bay leaf; simmer for 2 minutes

- add the milk, canned tomatoes an water; stir carefully

- season with s&p, and if you want it a little spicy, adds some red pepper flakes

- partially cover the pan, then simmer for 1.5 hours until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick

- remove the bay leaf and season again with s&p if needed

- to make bolognese pasta, just add some cooked pasta to the sauce, toss and serve with some parmesan cheese!

xoxo, 

kara

ps- you can totally keep this sauce in the fridge for up to 4 days or so...perfect for easy weeknight pasta dinners!