Your favorite, "Meat sauce" recipe...

[Victor_Hong]

Add instant coffee powder to ground meat, as it browns.

[David_Cooper]

However you make the sauce, always cook the pasta for a few minutes in the sauce. I throw a bit of sauce and some pasta cooking water in a pan, then toss in the al dente pasta. Toss it a bit let it simmer then add some cheese. In the bowl you can add a topping of sauce and more cheese.

[P_Willenberg]

@David Cooper

However you make the sauce, always cook the pasta for a few minutes in the sauce. I throw a bit of sauce and some pasta cooking water in a pan, then toss in the al dente pasta. Toss it a bit let it simmer then add some cheese. In the bowl you can add a topping of sauce and more cheese.

yes and never oil the pasta before saucing. sauce won’t stick.

[Brandon_R]

Yeah, the oil-and-pasta thing while cooking is plain silly. Not sure where that ever came from, but I’ve seen people do it. Mike, I like the simplicity of your recipe!

[David_Cooper]

No offense to Mr pobega but his pasta looks like it may have been oiled.

[mike_pobega]

lol
I guarantee you it was not.

[alan_weinberg]

I use this 2003 recipe from Wine Spectator.

[Michae1_P0wers]

I’ve had very good luck doing a Bolognese with odds and ends of pork and beef, not ground, but cooked down to shreds. I’ve used pork loin and pork shoulder, actually preferring the loin because the shoulder adds a lot of fat unless you trim it really well. Then for the beef I’ve used everything from the small end of tenderloins to short ribs. Start with mirepoix and pancetta. Add tomatoes and paste. Cut all the meat into relatively small (1/2-3/4") dice and let it cook down for maybe three hours until it shreds when stirred. Finish with cream.

My kids love this sauce FWIW.

[David_Cooper]

Mr Gugino best not show up in Bologna with that recipe. Cream? Fine, but don’t call it Ragu Bolognese. Some recipes call for milk to be added after the meat has been “browned” and reduced to coat but to finish with cream? He probably serves it on Bow Ties as well.

For a legit recipe find Lynn Rossetto Kasper’s.

[T_Melloni]

For me, an important element for any meat sauce (gravy, to me) is the long and low simmer to reduce the acidity of the tomatoes.

[John_Morris]

@David Cooper

Mr Gugino best not show up in Bologna with that recipe. Cream? Fine, but don’t call it Ragu Bolognese. Some recipes call for milk to be added after the meat has been “browned” and reduced to coat but to finish with cream? He probably serves it on Bow Ties as well.

For a legit recipe find Lynn Rossetto Kasper’s.

Marcella Hazan’s recipe includes the milk, added to the browned meat, as you say.

[todd_waldmann]

@Brandon R

I’m liking a lot of these ideas. Great thread about the Sunday Gravy!

In sauces I’ve done, I generally prefer deglazing with white wine rather than red. I’m not sure why but, especially with bolognese, I like the “lighter” profile to go along with the veggies, meat and milk.

Anyone put a Parmesan rind in the sauce as it simmers? I’ve never done that, but have seen it.

I concur!

[David_Cooper]

Last night I made a sauce with Pork Cheeks. Simmer for a couple of hours in your sofrito, tomato paste and stock then shred the meat and add back to a partially reduced sauce. Pretty good.

[mike_pobega]

If I ever added milk to my bolognese sauce my mother would reincarnate herself just to hit me in the side of the head. I would sooner add fresh ricotta and THAT she’d be all right with.

[G_Keeler]

@John Morris

@David Cooper

Mr Gugino best not show up in Bologna with that recipe. Cream? Fine, but don’t call it Ragu Bolognese. Some recipes call for milk to be added after the meat has been “browned” and reduced to coat but to finish with cream? He probably serves it on Bow Ties as well.

For a legit recipe find Lynn Rossetto Kasper’s.

Marcella Hazan’s recipe includes the milk, added to the browned meat, as you say.

We use milk in our family bolognese recipe as well after the meat has rendered. Passed down from my aunt who grew up in Emilia Romagna.