The Italian Julia Child (Part 2) — The Beginning of the Bolognese Chronicles

So… I’m very sorry to burst everyone’s bubble but apparently there already is an Italian Julia Child. We found this out on Sunday when we decided to make Bolognese sauce from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Who is this Marcella Hazen and why is she living my life?

Anyone who knows Nick well or, let’s face it, has gone out to dinner with him once, knows that Nick loves a Bolognese. When we finally got our kitchen, we decided that it would be one of our first big Italian meals we made in the new place.

Marcella Hazen Fun Fact: In Bologna, bolognese sauce is NEVER served with spaghetti. 

We started with vegetable oil, butter, and onion and then added carrots and celery:

The recipe stated that you should brown the meat and then add milk which will tenderize the meat and neutralize the acidity from the tomatoes and wine. The recipe called for dry white wine, which we thought was a little odd but we weren’t about to question “Italian Julia”.

We were supposed to allow the sauce to cook at “the laziest of simmers” for at least three hours. So… we made some antipasti:

The final product:

Now, this might be a more “authentic” Bolognese than we were used to but it originally came out a little weird. The recipe called for just  a cup and a half of tomatoes so it didn’t really look like sauce at all. Also, no spices. At all. Just 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Odd, right?

We added some tomato puree, oregano, and basil which helped a lot. Maybe traditional Bolognese just isn’t what we’re used to. The search for the perfect Bolognese continues…