My Italian roots are showing this week.  I made a huge pot of homemade Bolognese Sauce with some Rigatoni noodles. Sprinkled on top is my favorite, Parmesano-Reggiano Cheese.  I always keep a block of this cheese in my fridge and grate it by hand whenever I need it in my recipes.  Remember to keep the rinds of the cheese and put them in your freezer.  They are great to add to crockpot soups and sauces.  They slowly melt into whatever you are cooking to make it creamier.

I recently made a big batch of homemade, baked Ziti for my husband.  He needed to bring something to a Holiday potluck lunch at work.  So, I offered to make it for him.  Since my kids and I didn’t get to eat any of it I figured I would make another batch of it for us.  This time, I used my homemade Bolognese Sauce in the baked Ziti.

When I make homemade sauce, like this Bolognese Sauce, I make a large amount of it.  That way I can freeze portions of it.  Then we have homemade sauce any time we need it.  It thaws out so easily and tastes even better the longer it sits.  It gives the ingredients time to marry together.  I love this stuff so much I could seriously just eat it by the spoonful.  I have been known to do just that!

I tend to make homemade spaghetti sauce, or as some call it, Gravy! If I make homemade sauce I make meatballs and add those along with Italian sausage to it while it is cooking.  I will cook my meatballs right in the sauce if cooking it for several hours.  The Bolognese sauce also has the meat in it but it is ground meat instead of meatballs.  The Bolognese sauce is a thick & meaty sauce so you get meat in every bite you take.  You can serve over any pasta you like.  We like it with Rigatoni pasta.  The bigger noodles hold the thick sauce well.

What is your favorite Italian dish or recipe? Would love to hear from you.  Feel free to share some of your favorites or if you would like to see any particular recipes from me, just ask!  I love to try and always looking to create new recipes.

Mangia! Enjoy! 

Dee’s Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon, Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon, Butter

1 White Onion, chopped

6 Mushrooms, chopped

1 Large or 6 small, carrot(s), finely chopped

1 Celery Stalk, finely chopped

1 Teaspoon, Garlic, minced

1 1/4 lb., Stew Meat, cut into small cubes

1 lb., Ground Meat

1 Tablespoon, Italian Seasoning

1 Tablespoon, Garlic Powder

2 Tablespoons, Italian Breadcrumbs

1 (28 oz) Can, Tomato Puree

2 (28 oz) Cans, Crushed Tomatoes

2 (14.5 oz) Cans, Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 (29 oz) Can, Tomato Sauce

1 (18 oz) Can, Tomato Paste

1/2 Cup, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, grated

splash, Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 Cup, Red Wine

1/4 Cup, Fresh Parsley, chopped

 

S&P

1 (16 oz) Box, Pasta *any kind you like

 

Instructions

Put a large pot on the stove over high heat.  Add the olive oil and butter.  Once butter melts, add the onion and mushroom and saute until onions start to become translucent.  Then add the carrot and celery and toss together.  Add the garlic and stew meat. Season with S&P.  Once the stew meat is all browned, add the ground beef.  Break up the beef until all browned and combined with other ingredients.  Season again with S&P and add the garlic powder and Italian Seasonings.  Add the breadcrumbs and mix well.  This helps to thicken up the meat sauce.

Add all the cans of tomato (puree, crushed, sauce, fire roasted) and mix well.  Add the paste and mix again.  Add the red wine, splash of balsamic vinegar and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and stir.   Cook for several hours on low heat.  Add the fresh parsley and stir.

Serve over your favorite pasta and enjoy.

Mangia!

Notes

Any time I make homemade sauce I like to make big batches of it.  It is so great to put containers of this sauce in the freezer to use at a later time.  I try to always have homemade sauce for our pasta dishes on hand.  They thaw out so easily and taste even better after it has had time to marry all those flavors.  I don’t think I ever make a small batch of homemade sauce!

The Bolognese sauce is a really thick & meaty sauce.  We like to serve this over a bowl of Rigatoni noodles.  You can use any type of pasta you like.

I also like to cook my homemade sauces for several hours if I have the time.  The longer it sits, the better it tastes.  I have made my sauces in my crock too so it can sit all day.  However, this batch was a larger one so it wouldn’t fit in my crockpot.