By The week before the wedding. Mama and Kathy and Aunt Linda and Roy and Cody all drove out to the apartment Saturday afternoon for what they had been calling the engagement dinner — the small last-pre-wedding-Saturday-dinner the families had decided we should have together at the apartment as a small dress-rehearsal for Saturday December nineteenth’s post-courthouse dinner. Eight people at the apartment table. We had cleared the IKEA dining table all the way out to its full-extension length, which seats eight if you accept that you are sitting close.
I made spaghetti with bolognese sauce because the dish is the slow-cooked Italian sauce that holds eight people without being fussy and that announces seriousness through the four-hour simmer alone. The bolognese: a pound of ground beef and a half-pound of ground pork browned together with diced pancetta, mirepoix, four cloves of minced garlic, a can of crushed tomatoes, a small can of tomato paste, a cup of dry red wine, a cup of whole milk (the Marcella Hazan technique), bay leaves, salt, pepper. Four hours of low simmer. The meat dissolves into the sauce. The wine reduces. The milk tenderizes. The sauce develops the deep mahogany color and the rich beefy flavor that distinguishes a real bolognese from a quick meat sauce.
Eight plates at the table at six-thirty. Cody gave a small toast that I want to remember: Kay, you have always known how to feed people. Dustin, you are going to be the luckiest man in Oklahoma starting Saturday. To both of you. Mama cried. Kathy cried. Aunt Linda cried. Roy raised his glass. Dustin held my hand under the table.
Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium carrots, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup dry red wine (or beef broth)
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
Instructions
- Sauté the vegetables. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Brown the meat. Add the ground beef and pork to the pan. Break up the meat with a wooden spoon and cook until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
- Add milk and wine. Pour in the milk and stir, letting it simmer until mostly absorbed, about 3 minutes. Add the wine (or broth) and cook another 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Build the sauce. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the flavors meld.
- Cook the pasta. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti according to package directions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.
- Combine and serve. Toss the drained spaghetti into the sauce, adding a splash of reserved pasta water to loosen if needed. Serve immediately, topped with freshly grated Parmesan.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 58g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 620mg