Bolognese

Recipe from Kiki & Boo (Marcella Hazan)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, divided

• 1 cup chopped onion

• 1 ⅓ cups chopped celery

• 1 ⅓ cups chopped carrot

• 1 pound ground chuck -OR- ½ pound chuck and ½ pound veal

• ½ pound ground pork

• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 cups whole milk

• ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or a pinch of ground nutmeg

• 2 cups dry white wine

• 3 cups canned imported San Marzano tomatoes, (Italian plum tomatoes) with their juice

• 1 pound tagliatelle, (homemade or storebought), cooked and drained

For serving, fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

Warm the oil and 6 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 5-quart Dutch oven over medium heat until the butter melts and stops foaming. Toss in the 1 cup chopped onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Toss in the celery and carrot and cook, stirring to coat them with the oil and butter, for 2 minutes.

Add the meat with a very healthy pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Crumble the meat while cooking, stirring occasionally, until the meats have just lost their raw-red color.

Reduce the heat to low. Pour in the whole milk and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until the liquid has completely evaporated, leaving just a coating of fat in the bottom of the pan, about 1 hour.

Stir in the nutmeg.

Pour in the dry white wine and gently simmer, stirring frequently, until it's evaporated, about 1+ hours more.

Add the canned imported San Marzano tomatoes and stir well. When the sauce begins to bubble, turn down the heat so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with bubbles breaking the surface every few seconds.

Cook, uncovered, for 3+ hours, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is burbling away, there's a chance that it'll start drying out. To keep the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching, add ½ cup water if necessary, just know that it's crucial that by the time the sauce has finished simmering, the water should be completely evaporated, and the fat should separate from the sauce.

Taste a spoonful—or two—of sauce and season with salt and some good grindings of pepper to taste.

Add the remaining 2 Tbs butter to the cooked, hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.