Lamb Bolgonese

Bolgonese: known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese, is a meat-based sauce originating from Bologna, Italy. (Wikipedia)

This lamb bolgonese recipe is easy to make if you have time for a bit of prep work.  It requires a few simple ingredients to create a mouth watering dish in the end.  The key to this dish is to not over complicate things by adding too many ingredients.

Ingredients

1/4 cup pancetta – finely chopped
a couple tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper
1-2 large carrot – finely diced
1-2 ribs of celery – finely diced
1 yellow onion – finely diced or you can use 2 shallots and 1/2 a yellow onion if you want to mix it up a bit
2-3 cloves of garlic – finely diced
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary – finely chopped
a bit of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste
a pound of ground lamb
1 cup red wine
Parmesan
Parsley

Heat the olive oil over medium heat and fry the pancetta until it turns brown.  Add in the carrot, celery and onion and season with salt and pepper.  Allow enough time for the vegetables to sweat, approximately 5-10 mins.  Stir in the garlic and fry for another 1-2 mins.  Add in the lamb and fry until brown.  Stir in the tomato paste and add the cup of red wine.  Stir the mixture and reduce the sauce over low to medium heat.  You want to aim for a dry sauce (ie. little liquid left).

While the sauce is reducing, cook your favorite pasta according to the directions on the package (spaghetti or tagliatelle pasta works well with this sauce).  Once the sauce is reduced and the pasta is cooked, toss to combine.  You can garnish it with Parmesan cheese and parsley.  Enjoy!

Simple Yet Tasty Spaghetti Sauce

San Marzano Tomatoes: a variety of plum tomatoes, are considered by many chefs to be the best paste tomatoes in the world. (Wikipedia)

San Marzano tomato

The key to a delicious spaghetti sauce is keeping it simple and using the correct type of tomatoes.  I’ve tried different types of tomatoes but the best tomatoes I recommend are san marzano tomatoes.  These types of tomatoes have thinner skins versus other tomatoes with thicker flesh and fewer seeds.  On it’s own these tomatoes have a stronger taste, sweeter and less acidic, perfect basis for a spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients

2 thin slices of pancetta (if you want a vegetarian version feel free to omit this as it will still be tasty)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 can of San Marzano tomatoes
fresh parmesean
fresh mozzarella
fresh basil leaves

Chop the pancetta into small pieces and fry over medium to high heat.  While it is cooking, mince the garlic.  Add it to the pan without draining any of the fat.  If you feel there is too much fat or want a healthier version by all means, drain the fat prior to adding the garlic or skip completely as it will still taste good.  Stir the mixture approximately 2-3 minutes.  Slowly add the San Marzano tomatoes including the liquid being careful not to splatter yourself.  Mash the tomatoes in the pan and cook the sauce over medium to high heat until the sauce is reduced by two thirds – you want to aim for a dry sauce.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Cook spaghetti noodles according to the package (unless you feel motivated to make fresh pasta) and toss with the sauce.  Plate the spaghetti, sprinkle shredded Parmesan over the dish and slices of fresh mozzarella.  Add torn basil leaves for garnish.  If you want to kick it up a notch, drizzle a bit of basil oil over the dish and enjoy.

Pesto

One of the easiest, most versatile sauce/condiment to make is pesto.  Why anyone would purchase store bought pesto is beyond me.  The only reason I can think of having a jar lying around is the convenience if you can’t make it to the grocery store.  Pesto is packed full of flavor where it’s main use is in pastas.  However you can also use pesto in soups, hamburger dressing, butter, salads, fish, meatballs – the options are endless.  Pesto requires 5 main ingredients with basil being the star.  I highly recommend making pesto from scratch if you’ve never done so and experiment with different types of basil.

Fresh Basil

Pesto

2 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup toasted pinenuts
2-3 garlic cloves (feel free to add more depending on your preference but note the garlic is not cooked so you don’t want to overpower the basil)
1 cup olive oil
1/2 Parmesan cheese
dash of salt *optional

I don’t measure the ingredients so the above is a rough estimate.  Once you have all the ingredients, place the first 3 in a food processor and pulse.  Drizzle in the olive oil until it is the desired consistency you want.  Stir in the cheese and add salt per your preference.  Mix with cooked pasta or whatever you want.