But first, the winner of the Secret Stash Sea Salts giveaway is…. Deb! who wrote the largest number of comments.

Deb, go to the Secret Stash web site to choose your salt, www.secretsalts.com. I’ll send you an e-mail in a minute with more details.

If you haven’t won, don’t worry. There’s a giveaway going on for cake collectors as we speak. If you have a great cake recipe you want to share with the world, click here for more details and a chance to win a fabulous cookbook!

Meanwhile, Janna from “Secret Stash”  is sharing her recipe for Pan-seared Chicken with Lobster Mushrooms, Rosemary Butter Sauce, and Soy Salt  using Secret Stash Soy salt. Click here.

You can find many other recipes on her blog using the flavorful salts.

 

And now that we got all the admin stuff cleared, let’s have some pasta!

I have just realized that it’s been a while since I shared a recipe that is not cake with you. Sorry about that non-cake-eaters. But sharing this recipe for Bologenese sauce with you is going to make me feel so much better.

The recipe below is originally from Mario Batali (and appears in his Babbo cookbook, one of my favorites), but I have added so many shortcuts and a few changes that Mario might get mad at me linking his recipe to this one. But in any case, it’s a good one and I keep making it for my family again and again. And again.

Pasta with Bolognese Sauce

Makes 8-10 servings

2 medium onions, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground beef (or 1 lb. veal and 1 lb. pork)
3 oz. pancetta or slab bacon, finely diced
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup milk
1 cup white wine
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 boxes of pasta (try fresh Pappardelle)
Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Place onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in a food processor bowl fitted with the steal blade and pulse a few times (you might have to do this is batches) until finely diced.

In an 8-quart, heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables and sweat over medium heat until they are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the beef and pancetta and stir into the vegetables. Cook over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together, until browned.

Add the tomato paste, milk, wine, crushed tomaotes, thyme, salt and pepper, and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, and remove from the heat.

When ready to use, cook the pasta according to the instruction on the package.

Mario says: “The cooked pasta should be added to a saucepan with the appropriate amount of hot ragu Bolognese, and tosses so that the pasta is evenly coated by the ragu.”

Serve with grated Parmesan.

NOTE: It makes a lot of servings, but this sacue freezes beautifully.

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Categories : Beef, Fall and Winter, Giveaway, Main dishes/entrées, Pasta, Pork, Recipes