Here's a recipe I've been eyeing in Cook's Illustrated. A quickie Bolognese sauce sure beats the long one with several meats that they published years ago.
Weeknight Tagliatelle with Bolognese Sauce
Serves 4 to 6. Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, January/February 2017.
If you use our recommended beef broth, Better Than Bouillon Roast Beef Base, skip step 2 and make a concentrated broth by adding 4 teaspoons paste to 2 cups water. To ensure the best flavor, be sure to brown the pancetta-vegetable mixture in step 4 until the fond on the bottom of the pan is quite dark. The cooked sauce will look thin but will thicken once tossed with the imported Italian egg pasta. Tagliatelle is a long, flat, dry egg pasta that is about 1/4-inch wide; if you can’t find it, substitute pappardelle. Substituting other pasta may result in a too-wet sauce.
1 lb. 93% lean ground beef
2 Tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Salt and pepper
4 cups beef broth
6 oz. pancetta, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
1 lb. imported Italian tagliatelle
1. Toss beef with water, baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
2. While beef sits, bring broth to boil over high heat in large pot (this pot will be used to cook pasta in step 6) and cook until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 minutes; set aside.
3. Pulse pancetta in food processor until finely chopped, 15 to 20 pulses. Add onions, carrot and celery and pulse until vegetables are finely chopped and mixture has paste-like consistency, 12 to 15 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl if needed.
4. Heat butter and oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. When foaming subsides, add pancetta-vegetable mixture and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, about 8 minutes. Spread mixture in even layer in bottom of pot and continue to cook, stirring every couple of minutes, until very dark brown bits form on bottom of pot, 7 to 12 minutes longer. Stir in tomato paste and cook until paste is rust-colored and bottom of pot is dark brown, 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Reduce heat to medium, add beef, and cook, using wooden spoon to break meat into pieces no larger than 1/4 inch, until beef has just lost its raw pink color, 4 to 7 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to simmer. Cook until wine has evaporated and sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth and Parmesan. Return sauce to simmer; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes (sauce will look thin). Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Rinse pot that held broth. While sauce simmers, bring 4 quarts of water to boil in now empty pot. Add pasta and 1 Tablespoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta. Add pasta to pot with sauce and toss to combine. Adjust sauce consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Transfer to platter or individual bowls and serve, passing extra Parmesan separately.
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