Penne with Sausage and Beef Ragu

Sometimes we just need something a little different.  Not too crazy, just a little altered.  That's what this recipe is.  It's a basic meat sauce recipe that has ground beef and sausage in it.  It's very tasty, I promise!

Sausage and Beef Ragu

Ingredients:

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground sausage meat or 6 sweet sausage links removed from their casing
6-7 basil leaves (or 2 frozen cubes)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
Mrs. Dash Table Blend
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Break up sausage with you fingers and add to a preheated pot with 1 tablespoon oil.  Add ground beef.  Saute beef ans sausage until browned. Sprinkle with garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Use a potato masher or wooden spoon to break up the meat so you don't have any large chunks. Drain oil from meat and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO. Return meat to pot and add tomatoes. Swish water in the cans and add about ½ can of water or as needed so it’s not too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add basil. Let cook for ½ hour, stirring occasionally so sauce does not burn. Taste again for seasoning. Add 1 tsp of sugar or a little more if needed. Allow sauce to cook for ½ hour more and taste again.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Click here for a Printable Recipe of Sausage and Beef Ragu.

Penne with Sausage and Beef Ragu

Sometimes we just need something a little different.  Not too crazy, just a little altered.  That's what this recipe is.  It's a basic meat sauce recipe that has ground beef and sausage in it.  It's very tasty, I promise!

Sausage and Beef Ragu

Ingredients:

2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground sausage meat or 6 sweet sausage links removed from their casing
6-7 basil leaves (or 2 frozen cubes)
salt and pepper
garlic powder
Mrs. Dash Table Blend
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Break up sausage with you fingers and add to a preheated pot with 1 tablespoon oil.  Add ground beef.  Saute beef ans sausage until browned. Sprinkle with garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Use a potato masher or wooden spoon to break up the meat so you don't have any large chunks. Drain oil from meat and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO. Return meat to pot and add tomatoes. Swish water in the cans and add about ½ can of water or as needed so it’s not too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add basil. Let cook for ½ hour, stirring occasionally so sauce does not burn. Taste again for seasoning. Add 1 tsp of sugar or a little more if needed. Allow sauce to cook for ½ hour more and taste again.

Serve over your favorite pasta.

Click here for a Printable Recipe of Sausage and Beef Ragu.

Easy Individual Flan

It's that time again.  My turn for me to make dessert for my dinner group, The Dinner Divas.  I think I am getting better but I still can't help feeling nervous that it's going to turn out awful.  I have to say that although this started off a little shaky, it turned out really well!

I found this recipe at grouprecipes.com.  Although the custard came out excellent the caramel recipe was missing a main ingredient. The recipe stated to melt the sugar in a preheated pan until it melts and becomes caramel.  Well, that just didn't happen.  After speaking with some more experienced bakers, the sugar needed to melt in water to become caramel. What a mess.  My poor all-clad pot was put to the test and I was able to get the sugar out after it hardened in my pot.  It took a while but I saved my precious pot.   Luckily I had caramel sauce and butterscotch sauce (for ice cream) in my fridge and I used that instead.  Turned out fabulous!  The custard was perfect and everyone liked it.  What a surprise, right? Ha ha ha!

I am going to put a link to the recipe if you'd like to see it yourself.  I did leave a comment there so no one has the same issue I did.  Hopefully everyone else knows better or knows to read the comments.  I am going to give you the recipe without the sauce though because I didn't get to try it the right way.  The recipe states that it will fill 6 ramekins.  Maybe they are very large ramekins because I used 8 regular sized ramekins and I had so much of the custard that I threw half of it away.  I would have made another large one but I didn't have enough caramel.  I baked mine for about 1 hour until they were no longer jiggly in the middle. 

Easy Flan Recipe

From GroupRecipes.com

Ingredients: 

Prepared Caramel Sauce
6 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 - 13 oz cans evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Pour 2-3 tablespoons caramel into each ramekin, tilting to swirl the caramel around the sides.  Using a hand held mixer, blend the eggs together.  Mix in the milks then slowly add in the sugar and then the vanilla.  Blend until smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins.  Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water.  Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center.  If the knife comes out clean, it's ready.  Remove and let cool.  Let each ramekin cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramkekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard. 

Click here for a printable version of Easy Individual Flan.

Easy Individual Flan

It's that time again.  My turn for me to make dessert for my dinner group, The Dinner Divas.  I think I am getting better but I still can't help feeling nervous that it's going to turn out awful.  I have to say that although this started off a little shaky, it turned out really well!

I found this recipe at grouprecipes.com.  Although the custard came out excellent the caramel recipe was missing a main ingredient. The recipe stated to melt the sugar in a preheated pan until it melts and becomes caramel.  Well, that just didn't happen.  After speaking with some more experienced bakers, the sugar needed to melt in water to become caramel. What a mess.  My poor all-clad pot was put to the test and I was able to get the sugar out after it hardened in my pot.  It took a while but I saved my precious pot.   Luckily I had caramel sauce and butterscotch sauce (for ice cream) in my fridge and I used that instead.  Turned out fabulous!  The custard was perfect and everyone liked it.  What a surprise, right? Ha ha ha!

I am going to put a link to the recipe if you'd like to see it yourself.  I did leave a comment there so no one has the same issue I did.  Hopefully everyone else knows better or knows to read the comments.  I am going to give you the recipe without the sauce though because I didn't get to try it the right way.  The recipe states that it will fill 6 ramekins.  Maybe they are very large ramekins because I used 8 regular sized ramekins and I had so much of the custard that I threw half of it away.  I would have made another large one but I didn't have enough caramel.  I baked mine for about 1 hour until they were no longer jiggly in the middle. 

Easy Flan Recipe

From GroupRecipes.com

Ingredients: 

Prepared Caramel Sauce
6 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
2 - 13 oz cans evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Pour 2-3 tablespoons caramel into each ramekin, tilting to swirl the caramel around the sides.  Using a hand held mixer, blend the eggs together.  Mix in the milks then slowly add in the sugar and then the vanilla.  Blend until smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins.  Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water.  Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center.  If the knife comes out clean, it's ready.  Remove and let cool.  Let each ramekin cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Invert each ramkekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard. 

Click here for a printable version of Easy Individual Flan.

Rachael Ray's BLT Pasta

All you Rachael Ray haters don't know what you are missing!  Look how beautiful this pasta dish is! I made this dish for my parents this weekend and they loved it.  It has a delicious crunchy topping that I couldn't get enough of.  You can use any type of pasta you like, Rachael used Farfalle but I used Rigatoni.  It's so easy and it's a spin off of a BLT - Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato.  Instead of lettuce the recipe called for Arugula but if that's too spicy or bitter for you, I think spinach would be a fine substitute.

Turns out that due to the excessive cold weather tomatoes are hard to come by so supermarkets are jacking up the price.  My mom and I were in shock when we saw a little pint of grape tomatoes was $5!  That's double to the usual price.  Don't worry, we made it work with canned cherry tomatoes.  I never saw them canned before but they were so cute!  I added a sprinkle of sugar to the sauce to help sweeten them up and the taste was great!  You never would have known that the recipe was altered in any way.

BLT Pasta

by Rachael Ray

As seen on The Rachael Ray Show. 

Serves 4-6 (If you are using Rigatoni, this recipe will only serve 4)

Ingredients:

EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
12 slices good quality smoky bacon, cut into half-inch dice
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
A couple of generous handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
A pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 pound bowtie pasta
4 cups arugula, a couple of bundles, coarsely chopped
1 cup basil leaves, about 20 leaves, torn or coarsely chopped



Directions:

Heat a drizzle of EVOO in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add bacon and brown to crisp. Remove to plate to drain. Add Panko crumbs to the pan with the bacon drippings and toast to golden brown. Add parsley and a couple of handfuls of grated cheese. Toss to combine, turn off heat and reserve the crumbs.

Heat 2 tablespoons EVOO in a large skillet with tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook to soften, 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add red pepper and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and cover pan tightly with lid. Cook, shaking occasionally, until tomatoes begin to burst, about 8 minutes. Remove cover and gently mash up the tomatoes a bit with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Salt water and cook bowties to al dente. Just before draining, add a cup of the starchy liquid to the cherry tomato sauce. Drain pasta.

Add arugula and basil to the tomato sauce, along with the reserved bacon and drained bowties. Season with black pepper and salt, and toss to combine. Garnish bowls of pasta with the seasoned crumbs and serve.

Click here for a printable version of BLT Pasta.

Rachael Ray's BLT Pasta

All you Rachael Ray haters don't know what you are missing!  Look how beautiful this pasta dish is! I made this dish for my parents this weekend and they loved it.  It has a delicious crunchy topping that I couldn't get enough of.  You can use any type of pasta you like, Rachael used Farfalle but I used Rigatoni.  It's so easy and it's a spin off of a BLT - Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato.  Instead of lettuce the recipe called for Arugula but if that's too spicy or bitter for you, I think spinach would be a fine substitute.

Turns out that due to the excessive cold weather tomatoes are hard to come by so supermarkets are jacking up the price.  My mom and I were in shock when we saw a little pint of grape tomatoes was $5!  That's double to the usual price.  Don't worry, we made it work with canned cherry tomatoes.  I never saw them canned before but they were so cute!  I added a sprinkle of sugar to the sauce to help sweeten them up and the taste was great!  You never would have known that the recipe was altered in any way.

BLT Pasta

by Rachael Ray

As seen on The Rachael Ray Show. 

Serves 4-6 (If you are using Rigatoni, this recipe will only serve 4)

Ingredients:

EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons
12 slices good quality smoky bacon, cut into half-inch dice
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
A couple of generous handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped or grated
A pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 pound bowtie pasta
4 cups arugula, a couple of bundles, coarsely chopped
1 cup basil leaves, about 20 leaves, torn or coarsely chopped



Directions:

Heat a drizzle of EVOO in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add bacon and brown to crisp. Remove to plate to drain. Add Panko crumbs to the pan with the bacon drippings and toast to golden brown. Add parsley and a couple of handfuls of grated cheese. Toss to combine, turn off heat and reserve the crumbs.

Heat 2 tablespoons EVOO in a large skillet with tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and cook to soften, 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add red pepper and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, and cover pan tightly with lid. Cook, shaking occasionally, until tomatoes begin to burst, about 8 minutes. Remove cover and gently mash up the tomatoes a bit with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Salt water and cook bowties to al dente. Just before draining, add a cup of the starchy liquid to the cherry tomato sauce. Drain pasta.

Add arugula and basil to the tomato sauce, along with the reserved bacon and drained bowties. Season with black pepper and salt, and toss to combine. Garnish bowls of pasta with the seasoned crumbs and serve.

Click here for a printable version of BLT Pasta.

Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Toasts

We had a little tease of spring last week but were brought back to reality with torrential rain and wind that caused us to lose power on Saturday.   The weather left both Steve and I craving a hearty bowl of soup to warm us up.  Originally I planned on adding some spinach to the soup.  I added about a handful and then decided I really liked it as is.  Feel free to add it if you want but the soup was delicious without it.


Tomato Soup


Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 - 8oz can tomato sauce
4 cups (1 box) chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
extra virgin olive oil
10 leaves fresh basil (frozen can be used in its place)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic until softened in extra virgin olive oil. When onions are translucent add diced tomatoes and let cook over medium high heat for about 10 minutes.  Add sauce and stock and let it come to a boil. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and basil.  Reduce heat to medium and let cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste and season accordingly.  Blend with immersion (stick) blender until smooth.  Serve with grated pecorino romano cheese. 

Cheesy Garlic Toasts

Ingredients:

1 loaf of crusty Italian bread
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 cloves garlic, minced to a paste (chop garlic, top with a little salt and smash with side of knife)
2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese
parmigiano reggiano cheese
piave cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Slice bread into 1/2 inch slices.  Combine butter, garlic and romano cheese.  Spread on bread slices.  Grate parmigiano and piave over each slice. 

Bake for 10 minutes or until bread is crispy.  If you want the cheese to have a little more color, turn the broiler on and broil for 5 minutes. ( Make sure you watch them so they don't burn.)

Click here for a Printable version of Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Toasts.

Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Toasts

We had a little tease of spring last week but were brought back to reality with torrential rain and wind that caused us to lose power on Saturday.   The weather left both Steve and I craving a hearty bowl of soup to warm us up.  Originally I planned on adding some spinach to the soup.  I added about a handful and then decided I really liked it as is.  Feel free to add it if you want but the soup was delicious without it.


Tomato Soup


Ingredients:

2 cans diced tomatoes
1 - 8oz can tomato sauce
4 cups (1 box) chicken stock
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
extra virgin olive oil
10 leaves fresh basil (frozen can be used in its place)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic until softened in extra virgin olive oil. When onions are translucent add diced tomatoes and let cook over medium high heat for about 10 minutes.  Add sauce and stock and let it come to a boil. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and basil.  Reduce heat to medium and let cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste and season accordingly.  Blend with immersion (stick) blender until smooth.  Serve with grated pecorino romano cheese. 

Cheesy Garlic Toasts

Ingredients:

1 loaf of crusty Italian bread
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 cloves garlic, minced to a paste (chop garlic, top with a little salt and smash with side of knife)
2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese
parmigiano reggiano cheese
piave cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Slice bread into 1/2 inch slices.  Combine butter, garlic and romano cheese.  Spread on bread slices.  Grate parmigiano and piave over each slice. 

Bake for 10 minutes or until bread is crispy.  If you want the cheese to have a little more color, turn the broiler on and broil for 5 minutes. ( Make sure you watch them so they don't burn.)

Click here for a Printable version of Tomato Soup and Cheesy Garlic Toasts.

Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers

If you are in need of a quick appetizer try this one!  There are only four ingredients (okay, 5 if you count the egg wash) but they are packed with flavor! Change up the fillings to suit your taste but remember this is supposed to be a quick and asy recipe so don't make it too complex.

If you are a frequenter of  Trader Joes, be sure to pick up a jar of their Olive Tapenade.  You all know how much I love my olives and therefore try different brands of tapenade often.  This is by far my favorite. 


Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry
1/2 jar olive tapenade
Approx 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Egg wash - 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water, beaten

Directions:

Defrost puff pastry according to package directions.  Roll out pastry into approx a 14 x 11 inch rectangle.  Spread the tapenade over pastry, scatter the sundried tomatoes over the tapenade and then top with shredded mozzarella.  Starting with the short side, fold both sides of the pastry to the center.  Gently press both sides together so they stick.  Brush with egg mixture and slice into 1/2 inch slices.  Place cut slices on baking sheet and brush with egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Click here for a Printable Version of Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers.

Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers

If you are in need of a quick appetizer try this one!  There are only four ingredients (okay, 5 if you count the egg wash) but they are packed with flavor! Change up the fillings to suit your taste but remember this is supposed to be a quick and asy recipe so don't make it too complex.

If you are a frequenter of  Trader Joes, be sure to pick up a jar of their Olive Tapenade.  You all know how much I love my olives and therefore try different brands of tapenade often.  This is by far my favorite. 


Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry
1/2 jar olive tapenade
Approx 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes packed in oil, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Egg wash - 1 egg plus 1 tbsp water, beaten

Directions:

Defrost puff pastry according to package directions.  Roll out pastry into approx a 14 x 11 inch rectangle.  Spread the tapenade over pastry, scatter the sundried tomatoes over the tapenade and then top with shredded mozzarella.  Starting with the short side, fold both sides of the pastry to the center.  Gently press both sides together so they stick.  Brush with egg mixture and slice into 1/2 inch slices.  Place cut slices on baking sheet and brush with egg mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Click here for a Printable Version of Olive and Sundried Tomato Palmiers.

Lidia's White Meat Sauce

Here's another recipe from one of the cookbooks I received for Christmas, Lidia Cooks from the heart of Italy by Lidia Bastianich.  There are some very unique recipes in this book, most of which you won't find in every other Italian coobook.  Check it out next time you go shopping!
When everyone is hungry and waiting to eat there isn't any time to get a photo of the plated dish.  So you'll just have to take my word that this recipe is wonderful.  The title is a little deceiving because this isn't exactly a white sauce in the way that a bechamel is a white sauce.  I know what Lidia means by it.  This isn't a heavy tomato based sauce but it does have a bit of tomato in it.  The recipe calls for beef, pork and veal but I just left out the veal and used two pounds beef and one pound pork.  It was a wonderful combination.

The changes I will make the next time is to definitely drain the fat out of the meat completely.  I only spooned it off because I was afraid that it would be dry.  It's definitely not dry and definitely does not need all that fat.  The second change I would make is the type of pasta I serve this with.  Lidia paired it with fresh pasta and that's what I did as well but I don't like scooping up the pasta with tongs and then needing a spoon to get the meat.  I rather use a tubular shaped pasta such as rigatoni or penne.  In the future I may add a little bit of nutmeg to the sauce since there is milk in it and I have learned that milk based sauces benefit from a hint of nutmeg.  All in all this recipe is a winner!  I hope you give it a try!

Lidia's White Meat Sauce

From Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy

by Lidia Bastianich.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground veal

2 medium onions, cut in chunks

1 medium carrot, cut in chunks

1 medium stalk celery, cut in chunks

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup white wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 1/2 cups whole milk

6-8 cups very hot chicken or veggie broth

2 fresh bay leaves

Directions:

1.  Put the ground meats together in a bowl; loosed crumble and toss the meats together with your fingers.

2.  Drop the onions, carrots and celery chunks into a food processor and mince fine to an even textured paste.  Pour oil and drop butter into a large saucepan and set over medium high heat.  When the butter has melted scrape in the paste (pestata) with one teaspoon of salt.  Cook and stir the pestata until it has dried out and is beginning to stick, about 5 mins.

3.  Quickly crumble all the meat into the pan, stir with the pestata, sprinkle over it 1 more teaspoon of salt and cook, tossing and stirring occasionally, until the meat starts to release its juices.  Turn up the heat a bit, and continue cooking and stirring the meat as the juices evaporate, about 10 minutes, taking care that the meat doesn't brown and crisp.  *See Michele's Note

4.  When the juices have disappeared, pour in the white wine, bring it to a bubbling simmer, and cook until evaporated, 2 or 3 minutes.  Meanwhile, stir the tomato paste into the milk until blended. **See Michele's Note. When the wine has cooked away, pour in the milk and cook, stirring until it has cooked down.

5.  Now ladle 2 cups or more of hot stock into the pan, just enough to cover the meat.  Stir in the bay leaves and the remaining salt, and bring the liquid to an active simmer.  Cover the pan, adjust the heat so the liquid is steadily bubbling (not rapidly boiling), and cook for 15-20 minutes, as the broth gradually reduced.  Stir in about 2 more cups hot stock, just to cover the meat again, then give another 20-minute period of covered cooking and reducing.  Stir in a final addition of 2 cups stock, and cook, covered until the ragu is thick and concentrated, 20 minutes or so.  (The sauce should have cooked for at least an hour and incorporated 6-8 cups of stock in total.)

6.  Taste the ragu and adjust the seasoning.  Toss with hot pasta. ( If you've prepared the ragu in advance, let it cool, then refrigerate and freeze as you wish.)
Michele's Notes

*Here is where I would drain the fat off the pasta.  Lidia said the juices will evaporate but all that fat just sits there.  Instead, drain the meat and return it to the hot pan. 

**I find it completely unnecessary to combine the paste with the milk.  If you know a reason for this please share.  I just added the tomato paste to the meat and let it cook for a minute, then I added the milk.

Click here for a printable recipe of Lidia's White Meat Sauce.

Lidia's White Meat Sauce

Here's another recipe from one of the cookbooks I received for Christmas, Lidia Cooks from the heart of Italy by Lidia Bastianich.  There are some very unique recipes in this book, most of which you won't find in every other Italian coobook.  Check it out next time you go shopping!
When everyone is hungry and waiting to eat there isn't any time to get a photo of the plated dish.  So you'll just have to take my word that this recipe is wonderful.  The title is a little deceiving because this isn't exactly a white sauce in the way that a bechamel is a white sauce.  I know what Lidia means by it.  This isn't a heavy tomato based sauce but it does have a bit of tomato in it.  The recipe calls for beef, pork and veal but I just left out the veal and used two pounds beef and one pound pork.  It was a wonderful combination.

The changes I will make the next time is to definitely drain the fat out of the meat completely.  I only spooned it off because I was afraid that it would be dry.  It's definitely not dry and definitely does not need all that fat.  The second change I would make is the type of pasta I serve this with.  Lidia paired it with fresh pasta and that's what I did as well but I don't like scooping up the pasta with tongs and then needing a spoon to get the meat.  I rather use a tubular shaped pasta such as rigatoni or penne.  In the future I may add a little bit of nutmeg to the sauce since there is milk in it and I have learned that milk based sauces benefit from a hint of nutmeg.  All in all this recipe is a winner!  I hope you give it a try!

Lidia's White Meat Sauce

From Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy

by Lidia Bastianich.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground veal

2 medium onions, cut in chunks

1 medium carrot, cut in chunks

1 medium stalk celery, cut in chunks

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup white wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 1/2 cups whole milk

6-8 cups very hot chicken or veggie broth

2 fresh bay leaves

Directions:

1.  Put the ground meats together in a bowl; loosed crumble and toss the meats together with your fingers.

2.  Drop the onions, carrots and celery chunks into a food processor and mince fine to an even textured paste.  Pour oil and drop butter into a large saucepan and set over medium high heat.  When the butter has melted scrape in the paste (pestata) with one teaspoon of salt.  Cook and stir the pestata until it has dried out and is beginning to stick, about 5 mins.

3.  Quickly crumble all the meat into the pan, stir with the pestata, sprinkle over it 1 more teaspoon of salt and cook, tossing and stirring occasionally, until the meat starts to release its juices.  Turn up the heat a bit, and continue cooking and stirring the meat as the juices evaporate, about 10 minutes, taking care that the meat doesn't brown and crisp.  *See Michele's Note

4.  When the juices have disappeared, pour in the white wine, bring it to a bubbling simmer, and cook until evaporated, 2 or 3 minutes.  Meanwhile, stir the tomato paste into the milk until blended. **See Michele's Note. When the wine has cooked away, pour in the milk and cook, stirring until it has cooked down.

5.  Now ladle 2 cups or more of hot stock into the pan, just enough to cover the meat.  Stir in the bay leaves and the remaining salt, and bring the liquid to an active simmer.  Cover the pan, adjust the heat so the liquid is steadily bubbling (not rapidly boiling), and cook for 15-20 minutes, as the broth gradually reduced.  Stir in about 2 more cups hot stock, just to cover the meat again, then give another 20-minute period of covered cooking and reducing.  Stir in a final addition of 2 cups stock, and cook, covered until the ragu is thick and concentrated, 20 minutes or so.  (The sauce should have cooked for at least an hour and incorporated 6-8 cups of stock in total.)

6.  Taste the ragu and adjust the seasoning.  Toss with hot pasta. ( If you've prepared the ragu in advance, let it cool, then refrigerate and freeze as you wish.)
Michele's Notes

*Here is where I would drain the fat off the pasta.  Lidia said the juices will evaporate but all that fat just sits there.  Instead, drain the meat and return it to the hot pan. 

**I find it completely unnecessary to combine the paste with the milk.  If you know a reason for this please share.  I just added the tomato paste to the meat and let it cook for a minute, then I added the milk.

Click here for a printable recipe of Lidia's White Meat Sauce.