Eileen's Pappardelle Alla Bolognese

Because I'm Italian I love all things Italian, except for calamari, that I can not eat.  All I can think of when I hear that word, is a squid slapping me with it's tentacles or trying to eat me.  I know, THAT sounds crazy!  I just can't do it.  But anyway, Italian food is always on my list of what I can make for dinner.  It's a simple food to make, rustic, tasty and fills you up.  Add a bottle of wine and you have an elegant meal, no matter what is on the plate.

I bought a couple of packages of pappardelle at Trader Joe's the last time I was there, and stored them in the pantry.  Pappardelle is a wide flat noodle, sometimes made with eggs, sometimes not.  I have been toying with the idea of a beef bolognese sauce for them, I don't usually have a bolognese sauce with my pasta, have some picky eaters in the house.  But, I decided to give it a try, pulled some things together and made this bolognese recipe my own.  It was so darn good!  The beef, the wine, cheese, veggies and sauce, all cooking together made the house smell so fantastic, I couldn't wait to eat that night.  What is it with Italian flavors that does that, it's just good food no doubt about. So here is my take on Pappardelle With Bolognese Sauce.

Recipe below.

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These are the ingredients I started with.  I chopped my onion, celery and carrots to get them ready.

    

 I didn't have pancetta on hand, But I always have a container of bacon fat stored in the freezer.  I always save it after cooking bacon.  I melted some of it with olive oil, for added flavor while cooking the beef.

    

I pan seared the beef on all sides..... 

    

then covered it with a lid for the remainder of cooking time.

    

Take them out of the pan and let them rest on a plate.  Lookin' good!

 I used diced tomatoes and pureed them in a small food processor.

 In the same pan with the meat juices, cook the onion, celery and carrots, then add garlic paste, more on that later.

 Add the tomato paste and stir it in.

 Ahhh, then the wine!  This gives so much flavor to the rest of the ingredients.

 Toss in those tomatoes, a little milk for creaminess, a cheese rind, bay leaves and return meat to the pan....

 .....stir the sauce so everything combines, cover and cook stirring occasionally.

 OMG! That meat, it's so tender and juicy.  Shred it with a fork, trim any fat off of it, and return it to the pan so it can absorb some of the sauce.

 Looks amazing!  Start a pot of water, bring to a boil and toss in the pappardelle to cook.

 Scoop out most of the meat from the sauce pan and put it into a bowl.  When the pappardelle was done cooking, I put it into the pan with the sauce.....

 .....gave it a roll in the sauce and WOW, that looks so good!

 When I plated the pappardelle, I topped it with the beef mixture, shaved Romano- Pecorino cheese, fresh basil, and dinner was served.  It was so good I didn't want to talk while eating, I wanted to savor every bite.

Eileen's Pappardelle Alla Bolognese

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive

1 tablespoon bacon fat, or 2 tablespoons pancetta (see note), or use butter

2 boneless beef short ribs

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 sweet onion, finely diced

1 rib celery, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

2 tablespoons garlic paste (see note)

3 tablespoons tomato paste (see note)

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup milk

2 bay leaves

small Italian cheese rind, optional

1 package Pappardelle noodles

Grated cheese

Directions

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil and the bacon fat.  Add the short ribs and sear them on all sides.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Remove from pan onto a plate.

Add the onion, celery and carrot to the same pan, and cook for about 6 minutes.  Add the garlic paste and stir it in, cook for 1 minute.  Add the tomato paste, stir it in, cook for 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, wine, milk, bay leaves and cheese rind to the pan.  Stir until all is combined, then add the meat back into the pan and season with a little more salt and pepper.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover the pan partially with the lid so the moisture escapes, and let cook for 2 hours stirring occasionally.  The sauce will thicken during cooking time.

About 20 minutes before serving, start a pot of salted water for the pasta.

Remove the cheese rind and the bay leaves from the sauce.  Take the meat out and using two forks shred the meat and return to the sauce. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let the meat absorb some of the sauce while the pasta is cooking.

Scoop most of the meat out of the pan and into a bowl.  When pasta is done cooking, drain completely, then toss the pasta with the sauce that is left in the pan.  To serve the pasta, top with the meat mixture and shaved cheese. Makes 4 servings.

NOTE:
1.  If using pancetta instead of bacon fat, after browning the meat, cook pancetta in the olive oil  until brown and crispy, drain on a paper towel.  Add it to the sauce when you add the meat back in.  

2.  AMORE makes garlic paste and tomato paste in a tube, as well as many other good ingredients that you may only need a little of.  It's found on the shelves where jarred pasta sauces and canned tomatoes are sold. The garlic paste is so much easier to use, than chopping garlic cloves, and the tomato paste is less wasteful than opening a whole can of paste when you only need a few tablespoons.  If you are vegetarian or vegan, this dish is easy to switch out ingredients and still have a great, tasty dish.