RECIPE: Jesse’s 3-Meat Bolognese

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 10 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound spicy Italian sausage
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup heavy cream (optional)
• 1 cup David Coffaro Italiano Style red wine
• 1 (28 ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes (hand crush)
• 4 oz espresso, fresh brewed
• kosher salt (to taste)
• black pepper (to taste)

Method:

• In a wine glass, pour 6 oz David Coffaro Italiano Style red wine. Sip

• In a medium to large sauce pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Allow oil to heat, then add carrots, celery, onions. Sautee 5-7 minutes or until tender. Stir occasionally or as needed.

• Add in garlic and thyme, cook while stirring for 30 sec.

• Add in the beef, pork, and spicy Italian sausage. Use a spoon to break up the meat into crumbles. Cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.

• Add in the tomato paste. Cook while stirring for 2 to 3 minutes. (optional: add heavy cream, simmer until cream evaporates and is only a little creamy, about 10 min.) Pour in the wine and reduce by 1/3.

• Add in crushed tomatoes, espresso, and bay leaves. Bring sauce to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer. Simmer 30 min to 2 hours, depending on time or patience. Stir often to prevent burning on the bottom of the pan.

• Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves.

Traditional Bolognese sauce does have cream as an ingredient. I have mostly used this recipe for lasagna which already has a creamy quality from the filling. I don’t feel the need to add the cream to the sauce. It is completely up to you if you want to add the cream.

I use 93% lean 7% fat ground beef. I find the amount of fat acceptable and there is no need to skim or drain fat after cooking. 80%-20% ground beef is also acceptable.

If the sauce is made to accompany pasta, I fold in 1 cup of chiffonade cut fresh basil and fold it in just before topping the pasta. (pictured above).

If using the sauce for lasagna, allow to cool before assembling your lasagna.

Add salt to the sauce right before serving. If you feel the sauce needs more garlic flavor, granulated garlic can be added. This recipe was designed as a crowd-pleaser with varying tastes.

If you like your sauce on the spicy side, add 1-2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper when adding the vegetables to the pan.