When the weather turns damp there is great satisfaction to be found hiding away indoors. This recipe for bolognese sauce is a perfect cold weather, lazy day affair as it will demand at least 5 hours of your time. In exchange, you are left with an amazingly delicious meat sauce to use however you choose.

Bolognese sauce comes from Bologna, a city in Northern Italy known for its special meat sauces and homemade pastas. To properly honor your meat sauce, seek out the best-quality freshest pasta you can find, or make pasta from scratch. In fact, people that make homemade pastas are like Gods to me, so please tell me if you do and I will properly worship you.

Recently I have discovered a fantastic pasta, made in Italy, that tastes homemade. The brand is Bertagni and they have been making tortellini since the 1800′s. Whole Foods and Central Market both carry them. When you do not want to make your own pasta, but want to eat pasta that tastes homemade, seek out this variety.

If you are really smart and organized, you will make a double batch of the meat sauce and hide some away in the freezer for a not-so-rainy day. This sauce freezes well, arguably it improves in the freezer, and makes for a quick weeknight dinner. I like to serve this sauce over garganelli or tagliatelle, but any noodle you favor will do.

To really impress people, make a classic lasagna alla Bolognese with spinach pasta, ragu, and bechamel. This classic baked pasta dish is the King of Lasagna. Made with layers of rich ragu and creamy bechamel, it is quite different, but equally as delicious, as our cheese-filled American lasagna.

This meat sauce is finger/plate lickin good. It is worth the 5 hours it will take you to make it. Seriously, every bite is just as good, even better even, than the previous bite. It is pasta crack, not good for your diet, but excellent for your soul.

Ragu alla Bolognese

1 28 oz jar whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, with juice
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 pound ground sirloin, or other beef, not lean
1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork, (or sometimes I’ll use sweet italian pork sausage, casings removed)
1 small yellow onion, chopped small
1 carrot, peeled and chopped small
1 rib celery, chopped small
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Puree tomatoes with juice in a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to large skillet or dutch oven set over medium heat. Add ground beef, veal, and pork breaking meat up into small pieces with a wooden spoon until meat is no longer pink. Adjust heat accordingly so meat cooks but does not brown. Drain meat in a colander to remove excess fat.

Using the same pot, add remaining oil and butter. Saute onion, carrot, and celery over medium heat until vegetables sweat and begin to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add meat back to pot and stir everything to combine. Add milk and simmer until milk absorbs into sauce, about 5 minutes, then add wine and simmer until juices are mostly evaporated, another 5-8 minutes. Add reserved tomatoes and bay leaf.

Cook ragu, stirring occasionally, at a bare simmer until meat is tender and sauce is thick. This will take about 3 hours. If sauce gets too thick, add water or beef broth to thin slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week or the freezer for up to 3 months.