Ragù Bolognese (Meat Sauce for Tagliatelle, Lasagne, and other Pasta)

So I just finished a knife skills class and as always that left me with tons of leftover mirepoix. That's just a fancy word for diced carrot, celery, and onions. There are lots of things we could turn them into, but it's hard to beat bolognese. Ah, that most comforting meat sauce that goes well with fresh pasta, boxed pasta, and no pasta at all. I think it's amazing topped with poached eggs or piled into a sandwich. The possibilities are endless here. I think that making a little bit of bolognese is silly. Since bolognese freezes exceptionally well, I love making a huge batch so that it's always available for kids' school lunches and emergency meals. Any large heavy, oven safe pot or a very deep skillet will work for this sauce. Set it over medium heat and add 3 Tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add 1 and a half cups of diced onion, 1 cup of diced carrots, and 1 cup of diced celery. Everything should be diced very small. Add generous pinch of salt and stir to combine. By the way, don't sweat the measurements for anything in this dish. It's extremely flexible. This is not pasta though. Cook the vegetables stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent. You don't want the veggies to get crispy, but lightly golden is good. If the veggies start to brown before they get completely tender, turn down the heat. The sweating out process will take 10-15 minutes. Add 3 minced garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and cook another couple of minutes. Now we are ready for the meat. I am using 3 pounds of meatloaf mix that contains beef, pork, and veal. Having veal in there really helps with texture. You can certainly just use any combination of these 3 meats, but my bolognese never comes out as tasty if I don't use all 3. Grab a big spoon and start breaking it all up. It will take a while. Be diligent with this step. You want to make sure your meat doesn't clump up. If you let it set in big chunks, it'll be very hard to break down later. See how parts of the meat are starting to turn gray? Keep stirring and breaking up the meat until all the pink is gone and all the meat looks gray. This is probably the only time you'll hear me say this in any video. There, we've turned all our meat gray and it's time to season it. You can just go with your gut here. No need for measurements, but if you are the measuring type, I am using 1 Tbsp of diamond crystal kosher salt. Of course, this measurement will only work if you have this exact brand and type of salt and the same salt preferences I do. Lots of black pepper and a small grating of nutmeg, but that's optional. Stir it all together and add 1.5 cups of milk. I am using whole milk, but 2% should work too. Regulate the heat so that the sauce is simmering gently and wait for all the milk to be gone. This will take about 20 minutes. This is a good time to preheat your oven to 300F. The sauce will still look very wet, but the moisture should look mostly yellow. That's the fat and clear. That's the meat juices. Add a 26 oz box or a can of chopped tomatoes and 2 cups of dry white wine. I am using 2 Buck Chuck Sauvignon Blanc. I don't believe in cooking with expensive wine. I believe in drinking expensive wine. I'll also add a bay leaf. Since my tomatoes are unsalted, I'll add a bit more salt, but if you are using salted tomatoes, most canned and boxed tomatoes are salted btw, skip the extra salt. Bring to a simmer and put in the middle of preheated 300F oven uncovered for 3 hours. Not covering the sauce will make it simmer very gently and will encourage evaporation, making the sauce very concentrated and rich. See how the top got a bit toasty? This browning will give your sauce insane complexity. Give your sauce a stir and taste for salt. If you are not sure whether it needs more salt, separate a small portion into a bowl and play with that. You can serve it immediately or you can store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it indefinitely. But why wait when I have some fabulous fresh pasta right here. Pasta and sauce need to become one, so I like to give them a very thorough toss in the skillet before plating. This is one ginormous umami bomb wrapped around the silkiest, chewiest noodles. Need I say more? Can I just stop talking now and eat? The fresh pasta video can be found right here. For more in depth cooking tutorials, don't forget to subscribe to my channel and if you are ever in the Boston area, maybe I'll see you in one of my classes.