Bolognese and an AMAZING Wine!

For Christmas dinner this year I did a standing rib-eye. It turned out amazing, but was WAY more than Jake, my two sons, and I could eat. So I saved the leftovers to ponder their fate.

Then to sweeten the pot, we got our wine club shipment from Palumbo winery. Nick Palumbo is arguably one of the most gifted wine makers in Southern California (and most elsewhere too). This shipment included his Tre Fretelli 08 Meritage...

2008 Tre Fratelli Meritage

This big lush, complex Bordeaux style wine needed a dish to keep up with it; the light went off! I have a big chunk of seriously nice Rib Eye waiting for its next life; this wine is calling for a big, rich, bold sauce... hmmmm... BOLOGNESE here we come!!!

Rib Eye Bolognese Sauce

A quick history lesson on Bolognese, the method for making this sauce, and HIGH WINE PRAISE and notes for the wine - AFTER THE JUMP!



Bolognese is traditionally called Ragu alla Bolognese. Needless to say it hails from Bologna, Italy. The recipe has been around since the 5th century, and since tomatoes weren't known in Italy until after the discovery of the New World, tomatoes weren't in the original recipe.

The Italians always serve this traditional sauce on tagliatelle pasta because they feel the bold flavors need the wider pasta for structure. Are you getting the picture that this is a BIG sauce?

The traditional method includes the following ingredients:

• Beef (skirt steak)
• Pancetta (bacon)
• Mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions as described in yesterday's post - although it wasn't called Mirepoix until the duke named it after himself. But using the three aromatics was used long before the duke!)
• Red wine
• Milk
• Beef stock
• Salt and pepper

My Ingredients:

• 4 cups Beef (left over Rib Eye) - pulled from bones and shredded*
• 6 slices of thick cut bacon - diced
• 3 cups of Mirepoix
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms (my BIG deviation from the true method)
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 28 oz can of organic crushed tomatoes
• 1 bottle red table wine
• 1 cup heavy Cream 
• 4 cups Beef Broth
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh grated nutmeg
• Shaved Reggianno Parmigiano

Method:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon (or so) of olive oil. Once olive oil is heated, add the mirepoix. Saute until starting to soften, add the mushrooms, and bacon. Continue cooking until mushrooms and bacon are releasing their flavor. Add shredded beef and stir in the cream. Allow the cream to simmer with the mirepoix/meat mixture for about 10 minutes (this allows the vegs and meat to absorb the cream for added richness). Next add about of third of the bottle of wine, the crushed tomatoes and the beef broth. Reduce heat to med-low, and start the slow simmer.

After the sauce has simmered and is starting to reduce down, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and add another third of the bottle of red wine. Continue to simmer. Again, once the sauce has reduced down, add the final wine and grate fresh nutmeg into sauce (about a teaspoon) and continue to simmer until the sauce reaches a thick meaty consistency.

*FOOTNOTE: If you don't have any left over rib-eye laying around, you can use uncooked meat. This is a slow cooking sauce, all you need to do is add it (cut up of course) to the pan with the bacon. By the time the sauce it done, it will be falling apart. 

I served mine on penne cooked al dente and finished it with shaved Reggiano Parmigiano...

Patrick's Bolognese with left over Rib Eye and THAT WINE!!!

And now about that wine!!!

Decanting

Click on Palumbo for the winery description. I agree, only I think it's more expressive then their notes... dark berries, currants, swirling with violets, beautiful smooth mouth feel, with a subtle chocolatey finish... YUMMY!!!

One final comment about Bolognese. Often at Italian restaurants you will see Spaghetti all Bolognese on the menu. This is a sauce that uses ground meat - beef, pork, veal, and although popular, IS NOT a traditional recipe from Bologna, Italy.