Low and Slow (aka an Atypical Bolognese)

First I need to give a huge THANK YOU to the staff at Flour + Water! My recent class has me on a bit of a pasta binge and I was eager to try my hand at tagliatelle. Chef McNaughton had mentioned during the class that they use a different recipe for their noodles so I contacted them to see if I could get it. Not only were they incredibly helpful and supportive of my efforts but they liked my entry so much they put it on one of their websites! Thank you again for all your help and welcome to anybody who found the blog because of them.

Any pasta recipe that tells you it can be mixed in a food processor is not “real pasta.” I have learned that to make pasta that has bite requires you to work dough that no machine can move. In fact, I can barely move it and my daughter required a chair to get enough leverage to take a turn. The crew at Flour + Water apparently works their dough for 40 minutes. Did I mention it gets stiffer as you work it? Did I tell you Chef McNaughton has forearms like Popeye’s? I’m sad to report my hands literally gave up at 30. The dough was incredible though. When I rolled it and cut it the noodles felt like silk ribbons. Amazing!

Ever since I was in Italy my favorite sauce has been Bolognese. It is a simple sauce, but when it is done right somehow humble ingredients are elevated to amazing heights. I had some ground lamb in the freezer so I thought I would use some of it with the more typical beef and pork to make something a littler different. I thought the the lamb would integrate during the 4+ hours of cooking time. I also decided to it might be interesting to substitute some fennel in place of the normal celery. Oh and I’m a shallot guy

Atypical Bolognese

Butter
Olive Oil
Handful diced shallot
Handful of diced fennel bulb
Handful of diced carrot
1/4 c diced pancetta
1 lb ground lamb
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 c dry wine
2 c broth
Tomato puree
1 c milk

Melt the butter and and add the olive oil. Sweat the vegetables until soft. Add the pancetta and render. Add the meat and brown all over separating (this takes a bit of time). Add the wine and cook off. Add the milk and cook off. Add the stock and tomato and bring to a simmer and simmer for as long as you can (at least two hours but better three+).

Also found these blossoms at the market so I stuffed them with some sheep’s milk ricotta and fried them in a simple batter as a little starter.