Bolognese Sauce over Pappardelle Pasta

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I sure did. I had a house full of 18 people Christmas Eve to cook for and then on Christmas Day I went over my cousin's house.  My husband also surprised me with a Kitchen Aide! I can't wait to use it!

This past week I have has so many desserts that I can't even look at anymore! Maybe you feel the same way? Today I am going to share a recipe for Bolognese that I put over Parpadelle Pasta.  This is a very meaty pasta and has very little tomato sauce that goes into it.  When me and my husband were traveling around Italy this past summer, Jimmy pretty much ordered Pasta Alla Bolognese at every restaurant we went to.  This is a sauce that comes from Bolognia, Italy which is why it is called "alla Bolognese" "From Bolognia."  This sauce I made, I got from the Italian cooking show "Giallo Zafferano."  Although it didn't taste like the one we had in Italy, it was still absolutely Delicious!

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Ingredients:

*4 ounces of diced Pancetta (you can find this at Wegmans already diced or any Italian import store)

~*~Note~*~Do not use bacon!* 1/2 pound of ground beef
* 1/2 pound of ground pork
* 1 cooking Onion

* 1 stalk of celery and

*  1 stalk of Carrot
* 3 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
* 3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
* 3 1/2 Tablespoons of butter
* 1 cup of Whole Milk
* 1 cup of Dry Red Wine
* 1 cup of Beef Stock
* Pepper and salt to taste

* 3/4 LB of Pappardelle
Optional: 1 can of Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes (if you like it more moist with more tomato flavor)

Procedure:

~*~Note~*~ This sauce is easy to make, but takes about 3 hours to cook.  Be patient, because the longer it cooks, the more flavorful the sauce will be!)

* Mince the onion, carrot and celery (I do this in my mini food processor. It saves tons of time!)

* In a large pot, add the olive oil and the butter and to that add the vegetable mixture.

*  Sautee it on med-low heat for about 60 minutes until it is soft, just before it goes golden.

* When the vegetables are done, add the diced Pancetta anf cook until lightly golden

* Next, add the ground beef and pork and brown on Medium Low heat for another 30 minutes, until fully cooked.

* Once the meat is well cooked, add the glass of red wine and cook until the wine is completely absorbed.

* When the wine has cooked out and the meat is getting a bit dry, add the tomato paste which you can thin out with a bit of beef stock.

* Stir, salt, lower the heat, and now the ragu must simmer. Continue cooking it on a very low heat for about an hour and a half.

* Add broth little by little as you cook to keep the meat moist.
Note: at this point you can also add the crushed tomatoes if you like

* When the sauce is done simmering, boil the Pappardelle Pasta in lightly salted water.

~*~Note~*~The reason Pappardelle Pasta is used, is because the sauce is very meaty and the Pasta holds the sauce very well!)

* While the pasta is boiling, add the milk and leave it on low heat to absorb completely.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

* Drain the Pasta and toss it into your sauce.

* Serve with Grated cheese on top

Enjoy!