Sunday, September 25, 2011

bolognese in a hurry- my new favorite pasta

I visited a restaurant here in Grenada called La Boulangerie and found many types of pastas on their menu.  I wondered to myself, why is it that I only know how to cook traditional Spaghetti and Chicken Alfredo when there are many other different other pastas out there to cook?  I decided to venture out.  I glanced at the restaurant's menu and took a mental note of the name of a pasta that stood out- "Bolognese."  I read the description and was immediately drawn into the idea of adding white wine into a pasta sauce.  Wow, I thought... Just add one more special ingredient and you come up with a completely different type of pasta.  The grape taste from the white wine definitely shines throughout the dish.  The usual recipe calls for carrots and celery, but I didn't have any at the time so I used just garlic and onion instead.  I'm sure they would've made the sauce taste completely different than what I came up with but without them, the dish turned out delicious.  I will definitely try it out with celery and carrot next time and when I do, I'll  be sure to update you guys! 

3-4 servings;15-25min
Ingredients:
11oz spaghetti 
salt

1 1/2 tbs oil
3 cloves garlic finely minced
1 medium onion diced
salt/pepper
1tsp dried parsley flakes or dried basil
pinch red pepper flakes
1/4tsp paprika
1 6oz can tomato paste

3/4 - 1 lb ground beef
salt pepper
3/4 cup white wine (I used a chardonnay)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp ketchup

Directions:
1. Boil a pot of salted water.
2. Prepare onions and garlic.
3. heat pan of oil. medium high heat. add garlic and onion. add a little salt to draw water out. cook until translucent. Add parsley, red pepper flakes, and paprika. stir and cook for 1 min. cooking spices in oil will bring out flavors.
4. add spaghetti noodles to boiling water. boil until al dente (slightly undercooked). drain but do not rinse. it's okay if there's a little water left. do not cover or water will boil over. stir occasionally. 
4. add tomato paste and stir constantly. cook for 2-3 min until you start to see oil separate.  add white wine. stir and cook for 2 min on high heat to cook out alcohol.
5. add ground beef, chicken broth, and ketchup. stir occasionally. cook meat through and thicken sauce ~5-10min.
6. add in spaghetti noodles and stir to mix until sauce sticks to noodles. it should stick right away but just in case there's excess water from your noodles, cook until water evaporates.

*Click HERE for a cooking dictionary. 

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