Homemade Bolognese Warms the Cockles of Your Heart

Yes, you are on the right blog! A little salad now and then never hurt anybody. Especially when it accompanies home made meat sauce with pasta!

Put a couple of tablespoons of good olive oil and 5 garlic cloves cut in half in large saute pan. Heat slowly until garlic starts to turn toasty brown. Add a slab of baby back ribs (cut up as necessary to fit in pan) and cook slowly. I did mine on medium low for 45 minutes to an hour, and covered it loosely with aluminum foil after 30 minutes. They won't be fully cooked when you transfer them, but they should be 3/4 finished.

Heat more oil in a large pot and throw in some cut-up garlic. Heat a bit and add ribs. Add 3 large cans of crushed tomatoes, 1 small can tomato paste, water, some oregano (sprinkle some, not a lot), crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and some chopped fresh basil (here's some from my herb garden).

Stir (this won't be easy at first, but gets easier as the ribs continue to cook). Turn to medium high until it boils, and then turn it down to low to simmer. In a mixing bowl, add 1 pound ground beef, 1/2 - 3/4 pound ground pork, approximately 1/4 cup of bread crumbs (I prefer 4-C seasoned --not Italian), 2 eggs, grated pecorino romano (to taste, but not as much as bread crumbs), salt, pepper and parsley. I don't have exact measurements because you don't need them!! Mix together, form meatballs and brown those in the same saute pan you used to cook the pork ribs.

When the meatballs have browned, stir them into the sauce and rib mixture. You can add a little water if it's too thick, and more later if it gets thicker than you would like.

Let it cook ALL DAY. I simmered mine on low for 8 hours, covered, but at times partially removed the lid. Stir on and off all day. By the time it's cooked, the meat from the pork ribs will have fallen right off the bone. Pick bones out with tongs.

PLEASE NOTE: Authentic bolognese does not have as much tomato sauce as my recipe does- I make it the way I like it. You can cook the pork and meatballs and put in a sauce made with only some tomato paste, water and seasonings. You can make any type of pasta you like, we like percatelli when we can find it. It's hearty and sauce sticks to it beautifully.

Freeze what you don't eat the first night because it is even better after it is frozen and thawed.

Mange! Mange...and the eggs.