Weeknight Bolognese

When we were in Italy for our Honeymoon, I loved ordering Bolognese. It was a simple pasta dish, but so hearty! The same is true about this recipe! I tried it out last night & it was wonderful! It was super easy to make, really didn't take long, & had a nice kick to it due to the red pepper flakes. Of course, it's a Barefoot Contessa recipe... which never seems to disappoint!

At first I was a bit hesitant about using shells for this dish, but it turned out to be an excellent combination with the meat sauce. Some of the meat gets into the shells, which is perfect. I would recommend using a ground beef that you know crumbles well. One place that I recommend for such ground beef is Casey's Foods in Naperville. Whole Foods is always good, too!

*You'll see that I used a couple of substitutions due to wanting to use what I already had at home. In the future (aka not pregnant), I will definitely try this with red wine like the recipe calls for!

Weeknight Bolognese
2 TB good olive oil, plus extra to cook pasta
1 pound lean ground beef/sirloin
4 tsp minced/finely chopped garlic (4 cloves)
1 TB dried oregano
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 ¼ cups dry red wine, divided (*I used chicken broth)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 TB tomato paste
Kosher salt & black pepper
¾ lb dried pasta, such as orecchiette or medium shells (*I used the entire 1 lb box)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
¼ cup heavy cream (*I used whole milk)
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving *Side note: freshly grated or shaved Parmesan cheese really is worth the extra effort! :)

Start to boil water for pasta.

Heat 2 TB of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef & cook, crumbling the meat until the meat is no longer pink & has started to brown (drain fat). Add the garlic, oregano, & red pepper flakes & cook for 1 more minute. Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet & stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 TB salt, & 1 ½ tsp pepper, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower heat, & simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.

Finish the sauce while the pasta cooks. Add the nutmeg, basil, heavy cream, & the remaining ¼ cup wine to the sauce and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. When the pasta is cooked, drain & pour into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce & ½ cup Parmesan & toss well. Serve hot with Parmesan on the side.

*Recipe courtesy of Barefoot Contessa's Cookbook: "How Easy Is That?".

Weeknight Bolognese