EASY Pasta Sauce

I often refer to Alice as Mrs. Bolognese because she loves Bolognese sauce. It is pretty much what she orders whenever we go to an Italian restaurant and definitely her go to sauce when we make pasta at home. She spotted a recipe at “Cook Fast Eat Well” that with a bit of tweaking really hit the sweet spot between dense sweet meaty tomato based sauce which she loves and lighter marinara fresh tomato sauce that I crave.

The recipe is a “10 minute” cook time but the way we made it that was not possible though even with the extra steps, it was still very easy and relatively quick compared to the all day method where just a whiff is a meal. The recipe had no meat and no tomato paste which I’m okay with but Mrs. Bolognese wouldn’t hear of it. Here is what we did:

INGREDIENTS and PROCESS

First fry up about 2 ounces of Guanciale cubed into small dice until it is lightly browned. Remove it from the pan and add about a half pound each of ground veal and Italian sausage crumbled into the fat left from the fried Guanciale. When the sausage/veal is browned up, remove it from the pan and add about a tablespoon of olive oil, one minced onion and a minced celery stalk. Once that is browned up, add a couple of large minced garlic cloves continuing cooking until brown. Dump the meats and lardons back into the pan and add 2 tsp. dried basil, pinch of hot pepper flakes, some Italian seasoning, a dash of Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. sugar and an ample amount of ground black pepper. Once combined, add a half cup of white wine cooking until the stinging aroma has evaporated. To that, add a half cup of whole milk cooking until mostly evaporated. Then add 14 oz. beef stock, 28 oz. canned tomatoes broken by hand and about 3 oz. tomato paste and an ounce of butter. Cook very slowly for about an hour uncovered and serve over cooked linguini garnished with grated Parmigiana and Romano Cheese. Serve with garlic bread.

With this dish we enjoyed a “Carl’s pick” that I added to a case of mixed Prunotto Barbaresco’s that Alice had purchased back when I worked for Great Lakes Wine and Spirits. 2011 Prunotto Mompertone Monferrato DOC Piemonte, ITALY (14% abv) about $25 today offered a remarkably enjoyable and unforeseen experience. I knew it was a blend but had assumed it was a blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera, Dolcetto or other indigenous Piemonte grape varieties. So, when I poured out a very rich deep maturing red liquid into my glass, I had to rethink Nebbiolo and/or Barbera/Dolcetto none of which offer up this sort of color. As soon as I stuck my nose into the glass, not only did I perceive a distinct Northern Italian image in my brain but also a ripe black fruit essence which reminded me of Napa Valley or maybe the Rhone. Wow, very Cal-Ital in personality but absolutely expressive of the local terroir. I think we caught this one at the perfect age while complexity was abundant yet the fruit was still fresh and bracing with ample silky tannin to leave an especially satisfying memory on the palate. Turns out, it is a blend of Barbera and SYRAH! Plus, it was aged for 10 months in barrique. Both the blend and the process explains its accessibility and charm which we would normally associate with California and French wines. Clearly, I should have purchased more.

Enjoy in Good Health,

A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner