Italian week of wonder Day #4

It couldn't be an Italian week without a pasta dish. This one is excellent for carb loading.

Drum roll please...

RAGU BOLOGNESE

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped

6 oz. ground beef (85% lean)

6 oz. ground veal

3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry red wine

3 cups beef or chicken stock, divided

3 tbsp tomato paste

salt

pepper

1 cup whole milk

1 lb. tagliatelle or fettuccine

Finely grated Parmesan for serving

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute onions, celery and carrots until soft, 8-10 minutes. Add beef, veal and pancetta; saute breaking up, until browned, about 15 minutes. Add wine; boil 1 minute, scraping up browned bits. Add 2 1/2 cups stock and tomato paste; stir. Reduce heat and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper.
• Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan; gradually add to sauce. Cover with lid slightly ajar and simmer, stirring occasionally, until milk is absorbed, about 45 minutes, adding more stock by 1/4-cupfuls to thin.
• Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until 1 minute before al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Transfer ragu to a skillet over medium-heat. Add pasta and toss. Stir in reserved cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if sauce seems dry. Serve with Parmesan.

Okay first let me say that I didn't do quite a bit of the things that were in this recipe and it still came out great. I didn't use beef or veal but used ground pork and turkey instead. I also had no red wine in the house but I always have white cooking wine so that's what I used. Also in the recipe it says to simmer the milk in a separate pan. I simply took out the amount that I needed and let it get to room temperature and slowly added it to the sauce. Anything to reduce the amount of pots and pans is a must. For the third step there was something about transferring the sauce to another pot. Once again, I don't like to do extra dishes so I didn't transfer the sauce. I kept the pasta and the sauce separate and assembled them in the bowls. 

This was such a hit with the family that I HAD to put it in the favorite file box. I prepared the vegetables ahead of time and that cut down quite a bit of time. I think it took me about 30-35 minutes (minus the prep time) to make this recipe. It was DELICIOUS!