A Three Hour Tour... Bolognese Recipe

I got home last night and started cooking this bolognese sauce from Willams-Sonoma's Pasta cookbook (Simon and Schuster 2001) just before 7pm. At 10pm we ate a frozen pizza because I wasn't even close to being finished. We ate it tonight. Cook it on a rainy day when you have a lot of time to kill, and it's worth the wait.

Ingredients:
1 large yellow onion
1 carrot, peeled
1 celery stalk
2 large tomatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons EVOO
3 thin slices pancetta, finely chopped
1/2 pound each of ground pork, beef and veal
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups light meat stock or beef stock
5 fresh sage leaves
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Dice the onion, carrot and celery. Peel and seed the tomatoes and finely chop them (keep separate from previous ingredients).

In a Dutch oven or large heavy flameproof casserole dish over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the EVOO. Add the pancetta and sauté until just starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until aromatic and very lightly golden, 8-10 minutes. Add the ground meats, stir to break up, season with s+p, and add a generous pinch of nutmeg. Raise the heat to medium and sauté until the meat is lightly browned. (The meat will first release some liquid; after this evaporates, it will begin to brown.) Add the wine and simmer until it is almost completely evaporated. Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, sage and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. If the sauce seems thin, cook it, uncovered, until thick and fragrant - about 10 minutes.. Skim the surface of excess fat. Add the cream.

Cook your pasta and drain when al dente. Melt in the remaining 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs cheese, toss until it coats the pasta. Then add the sauce.

The part that took forever for me was waiting for all the liquid to evaporate or get absorbed by the meat. I ended up draining some of it out before adding the wine. After letting the sauce simmer for an hour and a half last night I was exhausted and refrigerated the whole thing. Tonight I forgot to add the cream but it was delicious and we didn't miss it. This sauce packs some serious flavor!  It might be the best dinner I've ever made.