Sunday, October 14, 2012

Quick Pasta Bolognese


Sometimes, panic is a good thing. And by that, I mean when I'm frazzled from studying and figure it's time to take a break by doing some cooking to get out of the academic funk. I have always had a fondness for Pasta  Bolognese and somewhere in my collection of dusty, unused cookbooks is a different recipe (one that takes twice as long as this new version) which I always trot out when I want to impress .  But I also have a fondness for simplification especially when I have a paper to write and a test to study for. Given how simple this was to make, and how good it tasted, this might be my new favorite Bolognese recipe. Overall grade: A

Quick Pasta Bolognese 
Adapted slightly from The Best Simple Recipes by America's Test Kitchen

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion chopped fine
1 carrot, diced into small chunks
16 oz meatloaf mix (pork and beef)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry white wine
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound gluten free spaghetti
salt and pepper

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in large pot. Place 1 tbsp oil in large skillet turn heat to medium high until oil starts to smoke slightly. Add onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add meat and cook, using potato masher to break apart meat until it is no longer pink for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Add wine and cook until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, approximately 2 minutes. Add cream and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Cook pasta and drain. Return to pot and add sauce, tossing to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

5 comments:

  1. Ah! The pasta looks wonderful!

    I'm a new Cake Slice Bakers member, and a new blogger- drop by and say hi! :)

    Joy (Yesterfood)

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  2. Ah! PASTAAAAAAAAAAA! I love, love pasta! And I love America's Test Kitchen/Cooks' Country as well! such great shows! Love their team too! ... so... who am I? LOL! Paloma, a fellow "Cake Slice Baker" ... we've been missing you a lot there... Hopefully we'll hear from you soon? We are baking from a Brand New Book and we're voting on December's Cake... I looki forward to hearing from you! Happy Holidays!

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    1. I miss baking along with all of you too. Life just got in the way of all the fun stuff like baking for awhile. I'm so looking forward to getting into the kitchen soon.

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    2. I understand, please let me know if you plan on baking with us again some day... I will be pruning our member list in January. Thank you so much! I love your blog! So yummy! :)

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  3. I totally understand if you will need to remove me from the list...I haven't been involved with the group for awhile. I would like to bake with the group as I miss the feedback...I think if I plan ahead, I can bake in January. Right now is crazy with classes starting again but by February I should be able to get functionally organized :)

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