Recipe Eight - Bolognese Sauce

Farfalle alla ragu Bolognese con Parmigiano Reggiano - page 165

This was a good dish, but to be honest, next time I will probably make my own recipe that I've been using for years. Mine has a lot more veggies, less tomato, and doesn't take as long. This one is a good alternative to jarred sauces, especially if you like the very traditional tomato/meat sauce. It's definitely very flavorful. I think this one would freeze better than mine too.

My husband actually made this because once again, I was out running an errand. I had him double the recipe because it calls for a pound of ground meat. My package of ground turkey in the freezer was 1.25 lbs though, and I didn't want to have to save a dinky quarter pound of meat. Also, I wanted to add in some pork sausage to add a bit more flavor.

We had to use the canned tomatoes that the recipe called for because I didn't have any homemade ones on hand. As a result, we were one 14 oz can short, which is fine by me because I don't care for overly tomato-y dishes. This made my sauce a little less red than in the photos in the book. The grocery store didn't have any fresh basil so we used dried. We served it over bow tie pasta because that's what we had in the house. It's easier for the boy to eat than spaghetti or linguine. Once again, the sauce was incredibly thin so we simmered it for an hour uncovered instead of with a lid like the recipe tells you to do.

In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't read the recipe before I handed it off to my husband, so I didn't realize what a long cook time it had. Therefore, when it came time to do the serving part (known as pasta strascicata) I just wanted to eat already and skipped it. From what I understand, they rarely do that in Italy anyway, so there you go.

Since we doubled it, we have a LOT leftover. We had it for dinner, then the boy and I had some for lunch the next day, and there is still a lot in the freezer. All we have to do is heat it up and toss it on some cooked pasta on a night when I don't feel like cooking.