Bolognese Sauce

I truly admire Italian food.  Their complexity of favours made up of a few simple ingredients.  Of course, time plays a major role. It was the episode where Anthony Bourdain travels to Maples, Italy that made me really appreciate true Italian food.  Italians care about their food! They care for their tomatoes! Their wide variety of pasta! Their local ingredients!  They pride themselves in their simple tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella cheese, fine extra olive oil, sprinkle of backyard grown basil, > woodbaked pizza.  Oh, just a note, they don't have pre-grated parmesan cheese that come in plastic bottles ready to spinkle over dishes! True Italians use the freshest of the freshest ingredients.  That's why, as simple as their dish can be, its also quite complex in favour.

So this weekend, with company over, I shall make Italian Bolognese Sauce served overtop of gluten free pasta.  A trip to our locate grocery, a few simple ingredients, a well used, well loved dutch oven pot sitting nicely on the stove, I will attempt to bring Italy to our home.  This recipe is adapted from Chuck William's "William Sonoma - Cooking at Home" with a few twist of my own.

Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
60g of smoked pancetta, diced
1/2 large yellow onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk all diced finely
1 pound of lean ground beef, 1/2 pound of ground veal
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
1 can of top grade Italian plum tomatoes with juice (450g) (I used a bit more tomatoes than 450g since I did add more meat than original recipe)
Salt

Directions:
Over medium heat in a dutch oven pot, heat up olive oil, butter, garlic.  Add in pancetta 1 min later.  Once pancetta renders off some fat, add in onion, carrot and celery and saute until soften.
Next, add beef and veal. Break up meat in pot, stir, mix just until meat is no longer pink.  Do not allow meat to brown or harden.
Add in wine and simmer until it evaporates.  Then add in 3/4cup of milk and nutmeg.  Simmer until the milk is absorbed.
Add can of tomatoes with juice, salt.  Break up tomatoes, stir.  Bring sauce to simmer then turn heat to very low, cover pot and let it simmer for 4hrs.  Stirring occasionally.
In the last 45mins, stir in the remaining milk in 3 additions, to allow the sauce to absorb the milk.
Simmer for another 20mins for extra measure.  Serve over your favourite pasta :D..

Veggies & Meat simmered in milk & wine prior to tomatoes.

Magic happens 4hrs later. :D yumsss.. though I think it was longer than 4hrs .. for good measure :D