Fall back, and take the extra hour in your kitchen to enjoy a long, slow simmer
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we turn our clocks back this weekend and in theory, "gain" an extra hour of sleep. It also means we're back to night falling at 5pm, and to me, this signals the official transition to the colder, shorter days to come. This change seems to trigger a longing for spending ore time on the kitchen, and teasing out the deep flavours of ingredients by doing some long, slow cooking. Once upon a time, I used to make bolognese with chicken livers. I also experimented with pork, veal, and even lamb. They were all delicious, but these days, I make it completely without meat. and I don’t miss it.
Many Italian recipes like bolognese include 2 or 3 kinds of meat, and the differences between them add a depth of flavour and richness that I thought would be difficult to achieve if I left out the meat. I’m happy to say this is not always the case, and this recipe, perfected over time has become one of my fail-proof stand-bys. There are many good vegetarian meat substitutes, but If you're not into that, by all means, leave it out. You can add a few cups of finely minced mushrooms as a substitute, and cook them out with the veg.
This recipe takes some time, so I’ve made the recipe large so you can freeze half.
Ingredients
2 cans San Marzano tomatoes, poured into a bowl and crushed with your hands 2 cups red wine 2 cups half and half or whole milk 2 onions, minced* 4 ribs celery, minced* 4 carrots, minced* 8 cloves garlic, minced* ½ cup olive oil About a pound of vegetarian ground (I like Beyond Meat, or Yves) 2 tsp. dried basil leaves 1 tsp. thyme leaves 4 bay leaves 1 tsp crushed dried chilis 1 tsp salt ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
*I use a food processor to mince everything nice and fine
Method
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook, stirring very often, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables start to get slightly caramelized. Add the veggie ground round, breaking it up and mixing well with the vegetables. Add the wine. Raise heat to high. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is nearly evaporated. Add the cream and cook until almost evaporated. Add the tomatoes, basil, thyme, bay leaves, and chilis. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cook stirring often, for 30 minutes, or until thickened.
Serve with really good fettucine, spaghetti, linguine, or a thick, tubular pasta like rigatoni rigate and shaved parmesan or pecorino romano cheese. Makes a great lasagne too.
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