The Best Homemade Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 celery rib, diced
- ¾ pound ground beef
- ¾ pound ground pork
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ cups dry red wine
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta
Directions
Step 1
Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
Step 2
Add ground beef, ground pork, pancetta, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook until browned, about 5-8 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef and pork as it cooks; drain excess fat.
Step 3
Stir in tomato paste, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, nutmeg and cinnamon until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 4
Stir in wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Step 5
Stir in milk. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced, about 5 minutes.
Step 6
Stir in crushed tomatoes. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered and stirring occasionally, until thickened and flavors have blended, about 20 minutes.
Step 7
Stir in parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.*
Step 8
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
Step 9
Serve immediately with bolognese sauce.
