Off-white bolognese
I was in the mood to cook on Saturday night, but I had no ideas of what to make besides some kind of pasta dish. I’m not sure why, but pasta has this magical way of being cozy and comforting, but it also allows you to feel like you’re treating yourself to a meal out.
John’s prompt: “Make a pasta with ground meat and a white or light sauce.”
My response: After some soul-searching (Googling), I realized a white bolognese sauce would be fun to try. My take ended up being more off-white.
My inspo: Amanda Hesser’s Rigatoni with White Bolognese recipe via NYT Cooking.
Rather than telling you what I changed, I’m just going to share what I did. Here we go.
What you need:
Olive oil, salt and black pepper
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 TBS tomato paste
3+ anchovies in oil
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound mild sausage
1-1/2 cups dry white wine (or leftover orange wine if you’re like me!)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 pound fresh peppardelle pasta
Parmesan
How to make it:
Coat the bottom of a large skillet or Dutch oven with olive oil and heat the pan to medium-high. Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant and slightly translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring 4 cups of of heavily salted water to a simmer and keep it warm, as if you’re making risotto. Also, bring a separate large pot of regularly salted water to a boil.
Add the anchovies and tomato paste to the veg mixture until they’re dissolved and fully incorporated.
Add the meat to the mixture, then crumble and cook until it’s fully browned and broken up throughout.
Add the wine and cook until it’s just about cooked off.
From here, start adding the salted water to the sauce in one cup increments, stirring and letting it cook off, then adding more. Your kitchen will start to smell even more amazing and you’ll see the sauce thicken and stabilize as you do. When the consistency is right, stir in the cream and remove from heat, but keep warm/covered.
Cook your pasta according to the package and add directly to the sauce when it’s done. Top with parmesan cheese.
