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Rach's slow-cooking bolognese gets tossed with tagliatelle in this classic Italian pasta recipe from her latest cookbook Rachael Ray 50

Adapted from Rachael Ray 50: Memories and Meals from a Sweet and Savory Life by Rachael Ray. Copyright © 2019 by Rachael Ray. Used with permission by Ballantine Books. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

  • About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • About 2 tablespoons butter (¼ stick) for sauce, plus a few pats to toss with the pasta
  • 1 onion, finely chopped or grated
  • 1 rib celery with leafy tops, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped or grated
  • 2 fat cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 pound ground beef chuck, or ¾ pound ground beef plus ¼ pound ground veal or pork
  • Salt and finely ground black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 bundle fresh parsley stems, tied with kitchen string
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, about ⅛ teaspoon
  • 1 cup white wine
  • One 15-ounce can diced or crushed Italian tomatoes, about 2 cups
  • 3 cups chicken stock or water
  • 1 chunk Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, plus grated cheese to serve
  • 1.1 pounds pasta (500 grams), such as egg pasta or semolina tagliatelle or other long pasta of choice

Yield

Serves: 4 to 6

Preparation

In a large dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pot. Add the butter to oil. When it foams, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until they soften. Add the celery, carrot and garlic. Stir for 1 to 2 minutes to coat the vegetables in fat. Add the beef and season with salt and pepper. Break up the meat until it loses its pink color, then add the bay leaf, parsley, and milk. Season with a little nutmeg and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the milk absorb into the meat completely, about 20 minutes, then add the wine and let it absorb completely, about 20 minutes more. Stir the tomatoes into the sauce and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours. 

Meanwhile, in a medium pot over medium-high heat, heat the stock with the chunk of rind to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. When the sauce looks like it may be drying out, add a few ladles of the warm liquid to moisten it, keeping the bolognese at a low bubble. To serve, remove the bay leaf and parsley stems. 

Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook for a minute to a minute and a half less than the package directions. Reserve ½ mug of starchy cooking water if you have used all of your stock or Parmigiano-Reggiano-infused warm water. Drain the pasta or remove it from the water with a spider. Toss the pasta with a few pats of butter and combine with the sauce and a little stock or reserved water, if necessary. Pass grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.