Tag Archives: bolognese

Link Roundup, Menus and Odes, Throwback Tuesday

Bolognese Recipes and Link Roundup

I admit that my cravings tend to be ADD. How is it that in the span of five minutes, I can go from wanting potstickers (the fat ones with the blubbery wrappers) to a hot dog (from Gray’s Papaya with plenty of red onions) to mac and cheese (with finely chopped onions melting into the sauce) and then right back to potstickers. I give my husband fucking fits – he can barely keep up long enough to shove my craving of choice down my throat before I’m already asking for something else. And if I’m online browsing through food porn, forget about it. In the span of an hour, I can have the foodie equivalent of multiple orgasms staring at everything I want at that very moment, only to be replaced by yet another want. It’s a hot mess. Continue reading Bolognese Recipes and Link Roundup →

Impressive Dishes, Main Courses, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, The Daring Kitchen

Malfatti with Bolognese

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Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
When I first learned about The Daring Kitchen, I was excited to join a group that would provide me with monthly culinary inspiration. This month’s assignment (and my very first with TDK) was created by Steph from Stephfood, our Daring Cooks’ July hostess. Steph challenged us to make homemade noodles without the help of a motorized pasta machine. She provided us with recipes for Spätzle and Fresh Egg Pasta as well as a few delicious sauces to pair our noodles with! Steph also encouraged us to make noodles that celebrated our culinary heritage. See Full Gnocchi Feast Menu
Malfatti, despite the aggressive name (“poorly made” in Italian) are a revelation. I first tasted these babies at a restaurant off of the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Trying to get away from the tourist traps lining the heart of the city, we stumbled into Serafino’s, a small family restaurant run by the daper patriarch of the place, Serafino himself. We made fast friends with the owner/head chef and fell in love with his culinary prowess. Sampling the malfatti, dumplings made of spinach and ricotta held together by sheer will, I knew that we’d stumbled upon something special. How the hell were they made? Continue reading Malfatti with Bolognese →

Cheese Dishes, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Lasagna Bolognese

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This one, my darlings, is a labor of love.  With a toothsome, slow-simmering bolognese in the style of Marcella Hazan (which some might even call blasphemy for even mentioning her name in conjunction with a sauce that is not her exact recipe – to which I proffer that there are as many bolognese recipes as there are mammas in Bologna making their personal “secret” recipes) and a creamy bechamel in lieu of layer of ricotta and mozzarella, this true take on lasagne bolognese is something special.

Don’t be deferred by the time it takes to make this (at least 5 hours) and the list of ingredients – you’ll have lasagna for 6-8 comfortably, plus extra bolognese to dress around two pounds of pasta, so expect to not have to cook for some time afterwards while relishing in the glorious Italian leftovers.  The only time saver in the bunch comes in the form of the no-boil lasagna sheets – these babies, though instant, are lovely in their thin, delicate texture.  Much better than dealing with blubbery, curly edged classic lasagna noodles and far more refined in taste.  Though this is work, it’s very rewarding, and those that get to sample a bit will make you realize that maybe all that time was well worth it. Continue reading Lasagna Bolognese →

Cooking Tips, Culinary Inspiration

Making Better Bolognese

Too Saucy For Your Own Good

This episode of “Making Better…” is brought to you by inspiration incarnate, the lovely and talented Isabella Mannone of La Fontanella in Phoenix.  If you are in Arizona and want a taste of majesty, you absolutely, positively need to pop into her place.  I have the sweetest of dreams about her artichokes braised in garlicky olive oil and get sad when I’m in town and they aren’t in season.  Makes me just miss them more.

Isabella did an assessment of my bolognese recipe and had the following to say.  Listen up, kids! Continue reading Making Better Bolognese →

Easy to Prepare, Main Courses, Meat Dishes, Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Weekday Lasagna

Time is On Your Side. Yes, it is.

My grandmother (Vo, if you’ve not pieced that bit of info together yet) makes a lasagna that takes a good two days to cook.  San Marzano tomatoes are gently simmered with tender cuts of pork, italian sausage and homemade meatballs.  My family has been know to ration portions of the dish for fear that it’ll be months (nay, full years) before they’ll be in the right place at the right time and lucky enough to snag a bite.  Men have been known to stab each other with forks for a helping. Continue reading Weekday Lasagna →

Pasta Dishes, Recipes

Rigatoni Bolognese

Phoning It In Can Be Sexy

I seem to collect bolognese recipes like a bad habit – many are more complicated than this one and involve grinding your own meat and tomatoes, slow simmering for days, and babysitting the whole operation until it comes to a savory finish.  “The Big Sauce” as my Vo calls it.  And yet, this recipe manages to conjure up the same “cooked for days” taste with a whole lot less work.

The recipe calls for a few funny things – like baking the bolognese in the oven, simmering the sauce with parmesan rinds and then finishing the pasta off in the pan.  All of these steps will help turn your sauce into something extraordinary. Continue reading Rigatoni Bolognese →