Bolognese

By Paul Briand

Everyone should have a red sauce recipe at their disposal. If you want a variation on that theme, try a Bolognese sauce.

According to its history -- yes it has an official history -- the sauce originated in Bologna, Italy. The original recipe was issued in 1982 by the Bolognese delegation of Accademia Italiana della Cucina, which dictated ingredients of beef, pancetta, onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, meat broth, red wine, and (optionally) milk or cream.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolognese_sauce

But, as with red sauces, there are any number of varities of Bolognese that hold the rustic tradition of the meat and root vegetables. Here's one that combines beef and pork, with carrots, spinach, garlic and shallots. And, yes, I use cream ... well, in deference to my waist, light cream.

Ingredients
1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of ground pork
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup red wine
2 shallots
2 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
24 ounce can kitchen ready tomatoes
Handful of baby spinach
Olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
1 tablespoon each of oregano, basil, parsley and cinammon
3 tablespoons of light cream

Directions
1. Coat a large skillet with olive oil and brown the ground beef and ground pork until no longer pink;
2. Season meat mixture with kosher salt and pepper;
3. In a food processor, pureee peeled shallots, carrots, garlic, spinach, oregano, parsley and basil;
4. Fold pureed mixture into skillet with meat;
5. Stir in flour;
6. Add wine and cook until reduced by half;
7. Stir in tomatoes, add light cream and cinnamon.
8. Serve over pasta, garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese.