NONI’S Recipe
for Bolognese Sauce
Our Noni was known to smoke a
cigarette while stirring and sometimes a few ashes or as she would say, “Secret sauce,” might fall in…
I don't smoke; but there is magic in the vegetables being invisible once you are finished.
She might substitute with what she had or what was fresh, growing up in the Great
Depression makes a cook become a special chef. Sometimes she would put a few fennel seeds. Sometimes she would count the seeds and say a prayer for each grandchild as the five seeds dropped into the sauce. You can substitute and make this vegan by: (change the meat out with 3 cups of a variety of mushrooms, add a half teaspoon of cumin and half teaspoon of paprika - change the chicken stock to veggie and cup of coconut cream instead of the milk)
Chop, and chop again on the diagonal and vertical to make everything small.
This winter or Autumn delight
will be appreciated by children and adults.
Make the sauce on Sunday and
serve this delicious luxury up on Tuesday in less than ten minutes to the
table.
Put a candle on the table, if
you don’t have candle holders, use a bottle, and turn off the cell phones.
Have a glass of Pinot Noir
with this.
This is not gluten free, but you could make with gluten free pasta
and be fine.
This is not a low carb, Keto diet
item, this is pure comfort food. You could cheat and buy the chopped mire-poix from Trader Joe's (in the cold
case and then chop to act like you did all the work – thus omitting the onion,
celery,
Carrot) but you will still
need to chop everything else. This is a dish that sings love.
Noni is in heaven she would be happy you are making this recipe.
If you have one diner who likes the sauce spicier - offer them red chili flakes.
If you have one "eater" who likes the sauce saltier- offer soy sauce (yes)
We aim to please; but not a vegan offering, sorry for my daughter who would
have the noodles with a little homemade pesto- that's another recipe.
That's Italian !
INGREDIENTS:
·
1 medium onion, chopped fine, repeat the chopping
·
1 celery stalk, chopped fine
·
1 carrot, no peeled, chopped fine
·
1 green bell pepper chopped fine- Into 1/8 inch pieces
·
3 cloves garlic chopped tiny super tiny
·
3 Tbsp. olive oil this
doesn’t need to be extra virgin
·
½ lb. ground beef chuck
(20% fat), dry off the blood with paper
towels
·
½ lb. ground pork again dry it off
·
1 tsp Kosher salt
·
3 oz. thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped
·
1 cup dry white wine – left over wine or cook’s wine but not bad
wine
·
⅓ cup tomato
paste is about a small can
·
two bay leaves
·
Pinch of finely grated nutmeg
·
2 cups (or more) homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken
broth
·
1 cup whole milk
·
Cup or two of Great Parmesan cheese at least 2 ounces I’d say 4
·
Sprigs of fresh basil
·
An old can to put the grease in. "Don’t put down the drain," as Noni would say, this too had a second purpose
DIRECTIONS:
Brown the meat in large heavy pot two batches over medium
heat for about 6 minutes
Remove meat and put in a bowl.
The meat is not dry or fully cooked.
Drain grease from the pot.
Put 1 Tbsp. olive oil in same pot with pancetta- brown until
crispy. Remove from pot.
Put on top of half cooked meat in bowl. If you prefer to
reduce the fat you can put on
A paper towel and dry off some grease before adding.
Don’t drain the pot again
- add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and all the vegetables. Sauté for 4
minutes stirring
Slowly.
Add the meat and pancetta to the vegetable pot, add 1 cup
white wine, small can tomato
Paste, bay leaf nutmeg and stock – allow to simmer on lowest
setting for two hours with the lid off.
Can also be put into crock pot; but then you have another pot
to clean. Stir every 15 minutes so the
Bottom doesn’t brown. Add milk. Simmer on lowest setting for
30 more minutes
It is Vital that you watch the sauce in the last hour- if it
gets dry add more chicken stock at 1/8
Cup at a time and stir.
Sauce can be made on Sunday and used on Tuesday – refrigerate
in tight sealed container.
Tuesday night:
Get out your favorite pasta. Boil water with salt and pepper
then add the dry pasta for
About 3 minutes. Drain in a colander very well.
Grate some wonderful Parmesan cheese – a cup or how much you desire
Find the Bay leaves and throw away. Reheat the sauce for 4
minutes stirring.
Add the drained pasta into the sauce pot.
Serve hot
Put the cheese in a bowl and allow everyone to add cheese as
they prefer
Snip a few sprigs of basil on top for color.
TIME TO COOK:
Sauce takes 10 minutes preparation time
and two and a half hours
to cook time
To boil the pasta about four minutes
Reheat another five.
Total three hours to table
Nutritional FACTS:
A 75g portion of spaghetti contains 260 calories (13% of
the Reference Intake (RI) for calories) and 0.2g of sugars (less
than 1% of
the Reference Intake for sugars).
As you can see from the second label, 125g of Bolognese sauce contains 50 calories (3% of the Reference Intake for calories) and 8g of sugars (9% of the Reference Intake for sugars).
The mince contains 190 calories (10% of the Reference Intake for calories)
and no sugars.
In total, the meal contains 500 calories
(26% of the Reference Intake for calories) and 8.2g of sugars (10% of the Reference Intake for sugars).
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Serving Size: 1 serving
Serving is about a cup
Calories
|
351.4
|
Total Fat
|
22.9
g
|
Saturated Fat
|
8.7
g
|
Polyunsaturated Fat
|
1.2
g
|
Monounsaturated Fat
|
10.3
g
|
Cholesterol
|
75.0
mg
|
Sodium
|
392.7
mg
|
Potassium
|
616.4
mg
|
Total Carbohydrate
|
11.7
g
|
Dietary Fiber
|
1.9
g
|
Sugars
|
3.1
g
|
Protein
|
20.8
g
|
|
|
Vitamin A
|
4.6
%
|
Vitamin B-12
|
39.3
%
|
Vitamin B-6
|
21.3
%
|
Vitamin C
|
15.8
%
|
Vitamin D
|
6.4
%
|
Vitamin E
|
4.9
%
|
Calcium
|
4.2
%
|
Copper
|
14.2
%
|
Folate
|
7.8
%
|
Iron
|
17.7
%
|
Magnesium
|
9.5
%
|
Manganese
|
17.6
%
|
Niacin
|
33.7
%
|
Pantothenic Acid
|
10.4
%
|
Phosphorus
|
20.1
%
|
Riboflavin
|
24.5
%
|
Selenium
|
32.0
%
|
Thiamin
|
10.0
%
|
Zinc
|
28.8
%
|
|
|
*Percent
Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher
or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Cuisine: Italian
Author: Caroline Gerardo
Easy
