Directions

• Make Bolognese

Heat olive oil and butter in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, and carrots, then cook, occasionally stirring them around the pan, until they begin to soften and the onions look translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add the ground beef, one teaspoon of fine salt, and ¼ teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper to the pot. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat into small chunks, and cook until the meat is no longer red, but before it begins to caramelize. The salt encourages the beef to release moisture, don’t be surprised if there is liquid in the bottom of the pot.

Stir in the milk and the nutmeg. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring every so often, until the liquid evaporates, leaving a mostly dry pot, about 30 minutes.

Stir the meat around the pot, and then pour in the wine. Simmer, stirring every so often, until the wine mostly bubbles away, 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the tomatoes. We prefer canned whole tomatoes. Open the can, measure 2 cups of the whole tomatoes with juices, and then use a fork or your fingers to break the whole tomatoes into smaller pieces. Of course, they will cook down and break apart even more in the pot, but giving them a head start is a good idea. A 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes has about 3 cups, so you will have some tomato leftover.

When the wine has simmered away, stir in the tomatoes. When the tomatoes begin to simmer, reduce the heat so it is barely simmering. We are looking for the occasional bubble popping at the surface. Cook uncovered at a very low simmer, stirring the sauce every 20 to 30 minutes for 3 hours.

If the sauce looks dry, stir in ¼ to ½ cup water. I have done this 2 or 3 times during the cooking time before and it does not water down any flavor. As the sauce cooks, taste it every so often to see how it is progressing. I usually throw in a couple of extra pinches of salt.

Toward the end of the cooking time, it is typical for the sauce to look separated (with fat on top). This is excellent and just what we are looking for.

To serve the bolognese, toss it with cooked pasta, and then dust the top with fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

• Tossing with Pasta

To serve with pasta, before draining the pasta, save a cup of the pasta water. Then toss the pasta with the sauce over low heat. Next, add some of the pasta water and toss for about a minute. This helps the bolognese stick to the pasta and make everything more “saucy.”