Introducing Sideways Bolognese Pasta! Why Sideways? Because this sauce has elements of a Bolognese pasta sauce but isn’t close to the traditional OG Ragu alla Bolognese.
Heads up, this is a big ol batch of sauce! Feel free to half the recipe if you live in a small household and don’t plan on eating pasta for days. This recipe made 6-8 main-sized portions. Rez and I ate a lot of pasta this week! Where’s my medal?!
If you’re planning ahead and would like to freeze some; simply omit the cream and cheese. Sadly, cream is not your friend when it comes to freezing. Separate whatever portions you want to freeze, then add a small amount of cream to the sauce you plan on eating. When you take this sauce out of the freezer, defrost, reheat on the stove, then stir in the cream and Pecorino Romano.
Sideways Bolognese
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 large Dutch oven
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ lb ground pork
- 1 red onion peeled and chopped; may sub white or yellow
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 1 cup carrots peeled and chopped
- ⅓ cup tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 porcini mushroom bouillon cube this lends a ton of flavor to the sauce
- 3 cups beef stock or porcini mushroom stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp red chili flakes
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- ½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano finely grated; plus more for serving
- ½ cup small variety tomatoes diced, for serving; optional
- 1 lb pasta of your choice
Instructions
- Pulse onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in the food processor until very finely chopped. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add meat and season with salt & pepper. Break the meat into small clumps using a wooden spoon. Cook until meat is lightly browned (but not crispy), stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat to a large bowl.
- You want about 2-3 tbsp of fat remaining in the pot. Remove some of the oil using a spoon if there's too much. Add the onion mix to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies begin to stick to the surface, about 6 minutes.
- Return meat to the pot and pour in wine. Reduce heat to med-low, breaking down the beef using a wooden spoon, until wine is evaporated, and meat is in fine crumbles, about 12-15 minutes.
- Add tomato paste, bay leaf, oregano, red chili flakes, porcini cube, and nutmeg; cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste is slightly darkened, about 5 minutes.
- Pour stock and cream into the pot; add a little salt. Reduce heat to lowest setting and cook, stirring occasionally, uncovered, until meat is super soft and tender, about 2-2½ hours. If the liquid reduces before the meat is tender, add another ½ cup of stock and continue cooking. Discard bay leaf. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning with salt; keep warm.
- Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup of starchy pasta water, drain pasta (do not rinse), and return to the pot. Add the desired amount of sauce to the pasta, along with a few tablespoons of pasta water, and ½ cup finely grated Pecorino Romano. Over medium-low heat, toss pasta constantly using tongs until the ingredients are well-combined and the noodles are coated in the sauce.
- Serve with diced fresh tomatoes and finely grated Pecorino Romano.
