Ragu' alla Bolognese

 Every few months, Daniele will spend an afternoon making the pasta sauce traditional from his region in Italy: Ragu' alla Bolognese. I think this is what most Americans think of as a traditional pasta sauce. Since the recipe takes a long time to make, D typically cooks in large quantities and freezes the extra.

Ragu' alla Bolognese
ground veal
ground pork
ground beef
sausage
carrots
celery
onion
tomato puree
cooking wine
olive oil
salt

You can mix the ingredients to come up with the portion size that is good for you and your family. Typically, Daniele will mix approximately 2 lbs of the ground meats, 2 sausages, 1 large carrot, 1 celery stem, 1 onion, and 1 large can of tomato puree for this sauce.

Chop all the veggies into very small pieces. Start cooking them in a large pan with a little bit of olive oil. After five minutes, add all of the meat and cook until the meat is cooked. Add cooking wine. Add tomato puree, salt to taste, put on low heat, and cook for 3-4 hours. The time is not set in stone here-the longer the sauce cooks, the better it will taste. One trick here is that if the sauce seems too runny, leave the pot slightly uncovered so that some of the moisture evaporates.

Enjoy this pasta sauce with your favorite pasta noodle (I highly suggest egg noodles!), gnocchi, or even use in lasagna. Top everything with Parmesan cheese. Freeze any leftovers for an easy dinner over the next few months.