I've been perfecting my authentic spaghetti bolognese in short form so that I can cook it in the evening for my family. Normally I have an 8 hour recipe that I cook on the weekend but I've got it to under 2 hours and made it healthy. Recipe follows...
Pro Tip: The best dried past I have found is in the bulk section at OB People's Market. The Fettuccini is the best!
Get a good size pot or dutch oven, you'll need at least 5qts. I cook it all in one pot.
Let's get all your ingredients out and prepped (all ingredients are organic):
1 15.5 bottles of organic strained tomatoes
2 4 oz bottles of organic tomato paste
6-8 ounces of your favorite mushrooms, chopped (I like porcini)
4 Stalks of organic celery, coarsely chopped
One full bulb of garlic or more, finely chopped (I set a 4 cloves aside to press in later)
1lb lean grassfed ground beef
12 ounces of uncooked Hot Italian Sausage
2 ounces fresh thyme, on the stem
4 ounces fresh basil, chopped
2 ounces raw honey
2 cups red wine
2 ounces apple cider vinegar
1 Large red onion
Start with about 6 ounces of your favorite mushrooms sliced. Warm up your dutch oven to medium-low heat, once it's warm add olive oil and mushrooms. Add some sea salt to help reduce the mushrooms.
Once the mushrooms are reduced, add the chopped celery and increase the heat to medium, stir in until it is mildly cooked then add the chopped onion. Stir until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
Next you'll add your chopped garlic. Stir for about 1 minute then add the uncooked Hot Italian Sausage and ground beef. I use a spatula to chop up the beef and sausage so that it becomes finely ground.
Once the sausage and beef or moderately cooked, about 7-8 minutes, next add the wine and cook down into the meat, for about 15 minutes. You may need to turn down the heat if it seems to be boiling excessively at this point.
Next, I add the tomato paste to create a roux. Cook in the tomato paste for about 5 minutes then add your strained tomatoes, thyme and raw honey. Add some sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
I cook for about a half hour, taste and then add garlic using a garlic press and any extra sea salt or pepper it might need. If the sauce is too acidic I add the apple cider vinegar. It never takes away from the flavor so go ahead and put it in either way. Depending on your tomato sauce, this can be a great way to mellow the acidity.
I cook it for another 30 minutes then I add the chopped basil. I continue cooking at a very low simmer until the thyme has fallen off the stem. This could be from 90 minutes to 180 minutes depending on how fresh it is. This generally indicates the sauce is done. You can always stop right at the 120 minute mark or continue the simmer for longer, that is up to you.
Enjoy
