It’s true. There’s been a lot of meat in my life lately. Mostly in pasta sauce form. Weird. After making that spicy sausage sauce the other day, I felt compelled to experiment with bolognese. As if there wasn’t enough meat sauce in my week. Gah. I’m kinda sick of it at this point, so I threw a little on a baked potato with some basil. Time for a detox. Bring on the salad!

Bolognese Sauce
3/4 lb ground pork (85%/15%)
1/2 lb ground beef (90%/10%)
3 slices thick cut, uncured bacon, chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c cabernet sauvignon
2 28-oz cans whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper

In a large pot, brown bacon over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Saute for 3 minutes then reduce heat to medium low and cover. Let cook for another 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Bring heat up back up to medium and add pork and beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 5 minutes or until meat is crumbly and only slightly pink. Pour in wine and tomatoes, crushing tomatoes with the spoon until they turn into small bits and are incorporated into the meat mixture. Add sugar, salt, pepper, stir, cover and reduce heat to low. Allow sauce to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

After an hour, stir in cream and cook for another 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

This makes a huge vat of sauce, so don’t be freaked out by the tablespoon of salt. In the end, I think I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons? 2 max? Salt to your liking. Just remember you may or may not add some salty parmesan when you finally eat the sauce.