The sauce was something of an all day project. I started out grinding approximately 3 pounds of beef using the grinder attachment
to my KitchenAid Stand Mixer
. I had In the freezer 1 pound of chuck, a 12 ounce ribeye steak, a 12 ounce sirloin steak, and about 8 ounces of trimmings left over from butchering a tenderloin roast. I allowed them to partially defrost overnight. This morning I cut the meat into roughly 1-inch pieces and ran the whole batch (alternating cuts) through the coarse grinding plate. I then ran about half of the resulting ground meat through again, but this time using the medium grinding plate. I combined the two batches and then set aside 1 pound for future hamburger patties.
When I was ready to start cooking, I asked Siri to crank up some Puccini on my HomePod and we were off to the races. (Yes, I copied that move from Alton Brown.)
Four rashers of thick-cut American bacon went into my Le Creuset 7-1/4 Quart Dutch Oven
. (I usually use pancetta, but I was in a mood for a slightly smoky bolognese, so I went domestic.) When the bacon was done, I removed the rashers to a paper towel lined plate to drain. When they had cooled, I snipped three rashers into small pieces using kitchen shears (I ate the other one). Meanwhile, I poured off the bacon fat and reserved it.
I dusted the 2 pounds ground beef with a ½ teaspoon of baking soda, a couple of big pinches of salt, and about six grinds of black pepper from my brass pepper mill
and lightly mixed it. The baking soda raises the pH of the meat’s surface, which promotes browning and slightly tenderizes it.
I browned the meat in the Dutch oven over medium heat in three batches, adding a ½ tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat before each batch. I transferred the meat to a paper towel lined platter to drain.
I diced one medium yellow onion, three stalks of celery, and 1 large carrot. I added a big splash of olive oil to the Dutch oven, which was over medium heat, and then the veggies. I added a heavy pinch of salt (I apologize for having eyeballed a lot of the measurements), three grinds of pepper, and a ½ teaspoon of smoked hot paprika. I reduced the heat to medium-low, and sweated the veggies for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they were soft and beginning to show signs of carmelization. I then added a couple of grinds of pepper, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and 6 crushed cloves of garlic, turned the heat up to medium and stirred for 1 minute.
One cup of a cheap (but not undrinkable) Pinot Grigio went into the pot with the veggies. (A couple of glasses of the Pinot Grigio went into your chef as the cooking process continued.) I cranked the heat to high and allowed the wine to cook down to a glaze. One can of evaporated milk went into the Dutch oven and was allowed to reduce by half. I lowered the heat to medium.
Then one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes and one 28 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes, along with their juices in both cases, went into the pot. (I prefer the Muir Glen brand.) As I added the whole tomatoes, I grabbed the tomatoes and squeezed them to break them up before dropping them one by one into the pot. I then added to the pot a 14.5 ounce can of low sodium beef broth, the beef and bacon, 2 tablespoons ketchup, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, a big pinch of red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons of dried Italian herbs, a teaspoon of dried basil, and a teaspoon of dried oregano.
I then thoroughly rinsed 1 ounce of Mycological dried porcini mushrooms
and, using kitchen shears, snipped them into small pieces that I let fall into the pot.
I reduced the heat to low, covered the Dutch oven, and let the sauce cook for three and a half hours, stirring every 30 minutes. At the end of the cooking time I tasted the sauce and thought it needed a pinch of salt, two grinds of pepper, two pinches of dried Italian herbs, a squirt of tomato paste, and small dashes of Tabasco and sherry vinegar to brighten it a bit.
I cooked a pound of rigatoni (I like the Barilla brand) for 11 of the recommended 13 minutes, drained the pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking water, returned the pasta to the cooking pot, added the reserved cooking water and about a third of the sauce, and let the sauced pasta cook over medium for 2 more minutes.
We had leftover sauced pasta, which will make a nice dinner after late Mass tomorrow, and leftover sauce to freeze for future dinners.
We drank a delightful 2015 Foxen Vineyards Volpino.
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