Beef Bolognese with Linguine

This year Juneteenth and Father's Day fell on the same weekend — Juneteenth on Sunday the nineteenth, Father's Day also observed Sunday. New Hope AME held a combined service that Pastor Hendricks said he had been waiting for the right year to attempt, and this was the year. The sanctuary was full. Extra chairs in the aisles. People who don't come on regular Sundays.

The service began with the Juneteenth history and moved into a meditation on the men who made the passage — not just the famous ones but the ones in our particular families, the ones whose names are on headstones in church cemeteries or nowhere at all, whose traces are in the food we cook and the way we hold a spoon and the phrases we still say without knowing we learned them. Then a recognition of fathers present in the congregation. Then a roll call of fathers who had passed, and Marcus's name was on that list, and when they called it the congregation answered "present" the way they do on All Saints, and Destiny reached over and took my hand and held it without saying anything.

I made Marcus's favorites for Sunday dinner: smothered pork chops, rice and gravy, snap beans, cornbread. CJ and Shanice came — they drove down for the weekend specifically for the service. Travis came with Destiny. Five people at my table on a Sunday in June, eating Marcus's favorite meal in honor of Marcus and Emancipation and all the fathers we are still carrying. The pork chops were right. They are always right on this day. I believe it's because he helps.

Marcus loved a plate that meant something — food that took time and said so. When I think about what it means to feed people in his honor, I think about low heat and patience and a pot you have to tend. This Beef Bolognese isn’t the dish I grew up making on Juneteenth Sunday, but it carries the same intention: a slow, rich sauce built with care, ladled over something substantial, set in the middle of a table full of people who drove to be there. Some Sundays you cook the recipe in your memory. Some Sundays you cook the one that’s right in front of you, and you put the same love in it, and it feeds people just the same.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb linguine
1 1/2 lbs ground beef (80/20)
1/2 lb ground pork
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 (28 oz) can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Instructions

Build the soffritto. Heat olive oil and butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to turn golden, about 8–10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Brown the meat. Add ground beef and ground pork to the pot. Season generously with salt and pepper. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and cook over medium-high heat until no pink remains and the meat has a good brown on it, about 10–12 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pot.
Deglaze with wine. Pour in the white wine and stir to lift any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the wine cook off almost completely, about 3–4 minutes.
Add milk. Stir in the whole milk and let it absorb into the meat, simmering gently for about 5 minutes. This step tenderizes the meat and rounds out the sauce.
Add tomatoes and simmer low. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes if using. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover partially and cook, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour — longer if you have the time. The sauce should be thick, fragrant, and deeply flavored.
Cook the pasta. About 15 minutes before serving, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook linguine according to package directions until just al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
Finish and combine. Taste the bolognese and adjust seasoning. Add a splash of pasta water to loosen if needed. Toss drained linguine directly into the sauce, or serve sauce generously spooned over plated pasta. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan.
Serve. Divide among plates or serve family-style from the pot. Top with additional Parmesan and fresh herbs. Set it in the middle of the table and let people help themselves.

Nutrition (per serving)

Beef Bolognese with Linguine — The Sauce That Holds a Table Together