Tagliatelle Bolognese

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This is based on Gennaro Contaldo’s Tagliatelle Bolognese and produced a dish I would rate as ‘f—ing delicious’ my highest rating. The lowest part of my highest rating. I do not reproduce things exactly, instead I get a general impression and then make things in a way I am comfortable with using ingredients I have on hand. In particular I used store bought flavored tomato pasta sauce and beef stock. I believe that those alone do not make a dish and so there is some technique depicted here and that those also prevent the dish from needing to simmer for an hour to develop flavor.

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups Tagliatelle (or Spaghetti, Linguine, Penne or etc.)
  • 2 Cups Tomato Pasta Sauce (or 2 Tbsp Tomato paste)
  • 4 Cups Beef Stock (or Water)
  • 0.25 Pounds Ground Beef
  • 1 Cup Mushrooms
  • 1.5 Teaspoon Butter
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 2 Tablespoons Parsley
  • 2 Tablespoons Cheese (Parmesan, Romano)
  • 1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning (Marjoram, Rosemary, Thyme, Savory, Sage, Oregano, Basil)
  • 1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Chili Flakes (or Cayenne, Paprika, Chili, etc.)
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Instructions

  1. Bring the Beef Stock to a boil and add rinsed Tagliatelle pasta. Boil for 4 minutes or as instructed. Pasta should be ‘almost done’. I use the Beef Stock here to simplify the steps. Set aside.

  2. Mix Mushrooms with Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, 1/2 of the Salt and Black Pepper, and Olive Oil, and stir fry the Mushrooms at 300o until they give up their water, at 1 minute intervals to produce caramelization. Approximately 5 minutes. Set aside.

  3. Mix ground beef with Cumin, Salt, Pepper, and Red Pepper Chili flakes, and stir fry at 300o until browned at 2 minute intervals to produce caramelization. Approximately 6 minutes. Set aside.

  4. Bring 1/2 Cup of Beef Broth (from pasta water) to a boil and reduce halfway until it becomes nearly a syrup. Add Tomato Sauce. Mixture should be ‘too runny’ but not watery and need to be boiled down to make a sauce. If it is watery boil it down vigorously. If it is done too soon add more Beef Stock because it’s important to boil it down to develop flavor.

  5. Add mushrooms and ground beef and continue boiling down more gently. Here you can get the sauce perfect because at this stage the sauce can be simmered for a long time to reduce.

  6. When sauce is essentially done add 1/2 of the cheese. Add parsley, and butter. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper as desired.

  7. Add pasta, toss together and continue boiling down if necessary until pasta is fully cooked and sauce reaches desired consistency.

  8. Serve on a plate with remaining cheese.

Enjoy.



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