The Best Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce

Source: Serious Eats, Marcella Hazan

Ingredients

• 2-3 C stock
• 4 packets powdered gelatin
• 1 (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 anchovy filets
• 8oz diced pancetta
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1.5 cups)
• 2 carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 4 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced (about 4 tsp_
• 2 C dry white wine
• 1 C milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 C minced fresh sage leaves (I used a pinch of dry)
• 3 oz grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 lbs fresh pappardelle or tagliatelle pasta

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 300° F
2. Sprinkle room temperature stock with 4 packets of gelatin and set aside
3. Puree tomatoes and 2 anchovy filets in the can using an immersion blender
4. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over high heat and brown the ground beef and pork until no longer pink (about 10 minutes). Remove and reserve meat.
5. Heat olive oil and pancetta and cook, stirring frequently until most of the fat has rendered, but not yet browned.
6. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and sage over medium high heat and brown until softened (about 8 minutes). 
7. Add back in the meat mixture and return heat to high. Cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 5 minutes).
8. Add in 2 C dry white wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan (about 10 minutes)
9. Add in the stock, tomatoes, 1 C milk, and 2 bay leaves. Season extremely lightly with salt and pepper.
10. Bring to a simmer and transfer to the oven with no lid.
11. Cook, stirring and scraping the sides of the pot down occasionally (~45 min) for 3-4 hours.
12. Skim off most of the fat, leaving about 1 C.
13. Finish by stirring in 1-2 Tbsp fish sauce and the grated parmesan.

1st time notes:

• Skipped the liver,
• Use 1/2 the salt next time because it was nearly too salty
• used better than bouillon and dried sage
• 1C heavy cream was too much, made it all white. Next time use about 1/4C or less probably
• Tasted good but too much salt and cream

2nd time notes:

• Simplified via Marcella's recipe, only using pork and beef. I also skipped the heavy cream. This was so good! We used santa cruz pasta factory fresh pappardelle, wish I prefer over the thinner tagliatelle.