Mood:  hungry

Ultimate Spaghetti Bolognese

This is one of those recipes I picked up on my travels in Europe and have modified only slightly – mainly due to my faulty memory. Trust me though, this is a keeper! It combines the delicious meat based sauce of Bologna with the lovely durum wheat pasta from Naples.

1 – 1 ½ ground pork sausage
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 small cans of tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 bottle red wine *see note below
1 cup of water

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 bay leaves

1 sprig fresh thyme

Salt to taste

¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

In a very large skillet, brown the pork sausage. Add the diced yellow onion to the browned sausage just as it finishes browning and cook until the onions are nearly clear. Add the tomato paste and continue until the tomato sauce is ‘browned’. Be sure to stir and scrape the pan often. You can add about half of the olive oil at this time if the mixture seems too dry, but the mixture should not be soupy at this point, it should be browned and firm-ish.

Add between a third to a half of the bottle of wine. Simmer and reduce over a low heat – about 30 minutes at the very least.

After it has been reduced, it is the time to taste the sauce, adding the garlic, parmesan cheese, salt, and Italian seasoning. The amounts I have listed are estimations. It depends on the wine that is used how much spice is really necessary.

After you’ve added the loose spices, add the remaining amount of the wine, stirring everything together and scraping the sides and bottom of the skillet. At this time, add about half the water. Also add the bay leaves and sprig of thyme. Simmer and reduce again – again about 30 minutes at the very least.

Boil your spaghetti for 12 minutes in salted water.

After you’ve simmered and reduced you should have a thick dark red to brown sauce. Add the cooked spaghetti to the large skillet and cook the spaghetti in the sauce, turning the pasta so that it is coated thoroughly in the sauce.

Serve pasta with a little extra sauce, parmesan cheese, and toasted crusty herb & butter bread. The sauce will be very rich and the bread will most certainly be needed to sop up the delicious juices.

*Note on wine: Use a Shiraz (Sryah), Shiraz Cabernet, or a Cabernet between 8 and 10 years old for best results.

On the whole - the simmering, browning, etc takes roughly one and a half hours in this reciepe. Often though, I find the longer the simmering the better. Just add water and taste again and again. You MUST taste the sauce as it cooks or you not come away with the desired results.