A few weeks ago, I saw some chatter on Twitter about the best recipe for Bolognese sauce.I know how to make Bolognese sauce. Do you really need a recipe?
Well, the author of the recipe (I'm just gonna conceal her identity slightly) is Marbella Kazan. Everybody loves her, and they were crazy about the sauce. So I had to give it a try.
It's really simple. Very few ingredients. It just takes a little time. The sauce simmers for three hours while you watch Ellen or something. I could imagine Marbella with a wooden spoon in one hand and a tumbler of Martini & Rossi in the other, giving it a good stir before going out on the balcony of her Florida condo for a cigarette or two.
Here's the deal. This very simple recipe needed tweaking. For one thing, the ground beef was too rough, too chunky, and needed to be punished with the immersion blender. For another, we thought the ratio of tomatoes to meat was seriously low, and we added more tomatoes (oh, and the tomatoes are canned, eek). We also subbed out about a third of the beef for some ground pork, yum. Finally, we thought the sauce tasted fine, okay, but nothing special. It went into the fridge overnight.
You know what I'm going to say next. The sauce improved. Everything tastes better the next day!
It's not the bestest thing I've ever eaten, but I'm glad we made it. At least half went into plastic bags, in the freezer. That will be a nice dinner solution down the road.
Here it is with some eggplant slices, fresh mozzarella and grated Parmesan. I liked it.
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18 comments:
HE IS NOT THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE!
Who? Cranky? I'll bet he'd disagree.
Oh, him. Agree. Call me old (fashioned) but I still think Cary Grant retired the title.
Zoomie: Oh, I do call you old-fashioned, but for you it's attitude. Cute.
I'm still stuck on George Clooney.
When I read the announcement, I said "who." Guess I really am out of it but I'd love to try to chose between Cary or Clooney. I don't think I could.
He has a new movie out, set in Hawaii - a win-win for you!
CC,
My family loves Marcella's bolonese just the way it is.
On the balcony for a cigarette. I love the image. I also love food experiments. Just like at Burger King..you can have it your way!
Nancy: Well, one of them's dead; that should make it easier. And... I wouldn't exactly kick Bradley outta bed.
Zoomie: I know. He plays a dad, sigh.
Kevin: We made it to the letter, but a little fussing doesn't hurt.
Greg: That's why I disguised her identity.
I'm so hungry right now, I could eat a whole pan of this. I love MH's recipe for Bolognese but your improvements sound fantastic too. And of course it improved overnight, isn't that groovy?
Dawg: I wish we could always cook the day before we eat. Anyway, I liked this recipe enough to have it be my go-to. I just loved the three hours on the stovetop. xoxo
Marbella likes vodka. And Champagne. She's hard-nosed about her recipes, but I've always liked playing around with them a little. The eggplant sounds really inviting today.
Kudzu: I knew she liked a little something.
<3
I could use a big ole plate of eggplant parmesan right about now! I'll get the garlic bread going. I always try to make my red sauce the day before, it's easier to tweak the seasonings once everything's gotten friendly together.
Hmmm sexiest man alive... Harrison Ford circa 1984
Little Pots: I'll pour the wine.
I am now officially into the idea of making sauce the day before. The recipe starts like this: "Yesterday, make this sauce."
Yeah, I like some Indy from the early 80s!
um ... sean connery
Patricia: Yeah, he was a sexiest man one year, by the time he'd gone all crrraggy (pronounce with Scottish burr). Good choice.
Oh, hell, one year it was Mel Gibson! Shriek!
If it's not Richard Armitage they've got it wrong!
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