A SUNDAY BOLOGNESE
I wouldn't say that I am an expert in the kitchen by any means, however, I would say that my talents lie somewhere near "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" status. Does anybody else miss her show? I loved it. Not only did she prepare a fantastic meal, but she displayed a flawless tablescape for every occasion, as well as a signature cocktail. My kind of entertaining. Now if you aren't familiar with Sandra Lee, her concept of "semi-homemade" consists of a few parts store-bought and a few parts homemade- to give the full illusion of completely homemade. So I strive for a mostly-homemade vibe with my recipes. Not to mention, I am half-italian so I feel like there has to be some kind of cooking gene in my blood. Right? So with all of this being said, I give you my best bolognese recipe.
1. Heat up iron skillet on medium-low, add a bit of olive oil- just enough for flavor
2. Finely chop 1 yellow onion and toss into pan
3. Add 1/3 ground pork and 2/3 ground beef (to put simply 1/3 = 1 package) to pan with the onion and add salt/pepper all over
4. Once you hear a little sizzle you can raise the temp up to medium/medium-high
It should look something like this:
5. While this simmers you want to make sure you are chopping everything up as you go. You want to get all the meat and the onion mixed together evenly.
6. Take a break from the meat and grab your slow-cooker, I have a Ninja and am obsessed with it so if you have one- grab that!
7. Turn your slow-cooker on high/turn your Ninja on Stove-Top High
8. Pour in 2 bottles of Rao's Marinara Sauce (you have to use Rao's, it is the BEST!)
TIP: Pour some water in the jar of Rao's and shake to get all the extra sauce, then pour that into the other bottle of Rao's and shake- pour that mixture into your sauce.
9. Keep stirring the sauce and make sure it's getting nice and hot
10. Once you are confident in all of the meat being cooked (all brown, no more pink), and the marinara is hot, start spooning the ground meat into the sauce
TIP: I use a slotted spoon to let all the extra fat drain before adding to sauce
11. Turn your slow-cooker on low/your Ninja on slow-cook low
At this point we are looking a lot like bolognese so high-five, the hard part is over!
12. I like to pick some fresh basil from my garden to town in for that *extra* homemade touch
You can't over-cook this. The longer it simmers in the slow-cooker, the more flavor it gets. I typically get this going 1-2 hours before I want to serve dinner.
13. Last step would be to boil some pasta and serve to your favorite people!
Ingredients:
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 package ground pork
- 2 packages ground beef
- 2 bottles of Rao's marinara sauce
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Fresh Basil
Things to make this easier:
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