Most people who know me are aware of my love of all things Italian; pastas, white sauces, red sauces, pestos, tiramisu, gelato, even Italian sodas right down to Italian wines, which is weird since I’m extremely partial to California wines. I like to think it naturally resonates from my Sicilian roots but, who knows. When I see a sexy pasta dish, it calls to me, begging to be tasted or recreated and a good traditional bolognese is no exception. Apart from most sauces, bolognese is an earthy ragu where the root vegetables shine through and the tomatoes and protein take second stage but, much like most sauces, there are tons of different variations of this celebrated gem. Some use cream or milk, some don’t. Some use beef and pork, some don’t. Though I do love this version, I also gravitate toward lamb which is what I will be using in this recipe today. Unfortunately, lamb is not always readily available in my area so, I like to cook with it when I can. I know several people who feel lamb is much too gamey, I disagree. In my opinion, lamb has an earthy aromatic flavor. In a way, you can almost taste the grass this sweet little creature was grazing on, if that makes sense. I suppose it’s an acquired taste much like duck and white truffle oil, which I also love. But, I’m getting off track again. The first and last time I made this dish was quite a while back and it came out pretty awesome. The funny thing about that whole situation is that I did not write down the recipe (another brilliant Christina move). I cannot express how many times I’ve been tongue whipped for not writing down recipes for the food I make at home. I feel like it might be subliminal PTSD from all of the years I spent in the restaurants writing menus, implementing recipes that took days, weeks and sometimes months. Taking the extra time and care to do this for the restaurants, tasting menus and prefix menus is one thing, but taking the time to tediously write every ingredient down at home is an unnecessary headache and extremely time consuming for me to tweak a recipe with 5000 ingredients. For example: as a dish cooks down the flavors should become more prevalent, stronger. This is not always the case. So I will add a bit more of this and that, tasting along the way to ensure it comes out perfect. That is my favorite way to cook, with my eyes, nose and mouth. I like to eyeball. (This is likely why I hated having to jump on the pastry station when the pastry chefs would disappear into the bathroom during the dinner rush.) Unfortunately, the same dish may come out tasting just a bit different each time it’s made depending on the ingredients and how long it’s been since I’ve made it. Needless to say, this particular recipe is going to be recreated from the ground up since it’s been well over a year.
As for the bolognese, there are times I process my vegetables rather than fine dice depending on what pasta I am using this sauce with. Lasagna, process. Gnocchi, process. Pappardelle, fine dice. Also, I have yet to see a plethora of traditional Italian sauces that contain mushrooms. This is a personal preference. I feel like the earthiness of the mushrooms enhance the flavor of the lamb, so omitting is absolutely optional. As for the wine, as anyone can see in my recipes, I often use double or triple the amount you may see in other recipes simply because I love wine based sauces. Not only is the aroma absolutely insane, the flavor is phenomenal. In my own personal opinion, most bland sauces can be turned into something amazing by caramelizing a little wine. I would also like to add that the dairy in this dish is also optional. Though it is a traditional ingredient, it is absolutely not 100% necessary. It does add a creaminess and helps to cut the acid of the tomatoes, another thing I love is that acidity, but it’s not at all written in stone. And finally, as with most dishes, I like to dress them up with some minced parsley. Again, this is a personal preference. I merely do this for color and I almost always choose curly over flat leaf. But, you’ll be hard pressed to find any traditional dishes in Italy decorated with a bunch of minced parsley. It’s just my thing. I like for food to be appealing to the eye before the tastebuds.
And finally, the pappardelle. Why am I using dried pasta instead of making my own you ask? Because….my pasta maker intimidates me. Since I bought it, I have only used it once and though the pasta came out ok, I was not impressed. I feel I need to master the little sucker before I start posting recipes using homemade pasta. Many a night I walk into my pantry and look over at the bags of simolina flour that mockingly stare back. “Some day my friends, some day. ” I whisper. But not today. Today it will be dried pappardelle with a traditional bolognese enhanced by lots of red wine, mushrooms and parsley. Enjoy!
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 lg carrot peeled and fine diced
1 small yellow onion peeled and fine diced
2 sticks celery fine diced
7 white button mushrooms small diced
⅔ c pancetta fine minced
1 lb ground lamb
1 c cabernet sauvignon
1 – 28 oz can diced petite tomatoes
Dash of kosher salt (to your taste)
⅔ tsp white pepper
½ c heavy cream
Fresh minced parsley
Fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
½ lb pappardelle
Start by heating a large pan over medium heat. Add the oil, carrots, onion, celery and mushrooms. Sautee until onions are translucent. Add pancetta. Cook for roughly 2 minutes. Add the lamb and wine. Mix well and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. About 10 minutes prior to the 2 hour mark, boil your pasta to aldente. Drain and set aside. Once your sauce is ready, raise your flame to medium and add the cream. Simmer for 15 minutes. Once the cream is well incorporated, add the pappardelle and give it a few tosses. Dress with parsley and fresh grated cheese. Viola!
Girl-Chef Tastes 