I thought today was a great day to make a Sunday gravy and a Bolognese sounded tasty.  Don’t be daunted by the amount of ingredients and what appears to be substantial effort; it really is quite easy to prepare. Also this recipe allows me to work in some of the ingredients I have used recently so I reduce waste. I will be using the remainder of the country bacon from the Chuckwagon Chili, the cherry/grape tomatoes, mozzarella cigieline, and fresh basin used in the Caprese Poppers, and the remaining half onion and green pepper from the Sweet and Sour Chicken.  So if menu planning doesn’t work out, resort to improvisation!

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients:

• 6 oz ground beef
• 3 oz diced bacon or pancetta
• 1/2 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 3 small cloves garlic, diced (about 1 tsp or so)
• 1 1/4 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, halved (reserve the 1/4 cup for a garnish at the end)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves (optional)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce

Preparation:

In a large sauce pot or saute pan over medium/medium high heat, render the diced bacon until crisp.  Add the green peppers, carrots, celery and onion. Add a few grinds of black pepper and a little salt. The bacon will add most of the salt in this dish and we will check it before serving and add more if needed.

Sweat until the vegetables soften, but do not brown. Add the garlic and when fragrant, about 30 seconds, and then add the tomato paste. Stir the paste to combine with softened vegetables and bacon. Add the halved tomatoes.

Add the tomato sauce and white wine and once simmering, lower the heat to maintain the lightest simmer. Add the cloves, thyme, basil, and oregano. Stir to combine.

In a separate pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil. When shimmering, add the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. Add a few grinds of black pepper while browning and crumbling the meat. When done, add the milk and nutmeg. Cook the meat and milk until the milk has evaporated and add it to the tomato/vegetable mixture. Stir to combine and allow the sauce to lightly simmer covered to break down the tomatoes and meld the flavors.

Check the sauce periodically and if the sauce begins to thicken and potentially stick, add additional white wine, water or chicken/vegetable stock.