Pasta Bolognese

This is a "white" (no tomato) pasta bolognese, but you could add some tomato paste as desired (in Bologna, the amount of tomato in ragu bolognese is a hotly debated topic!). Adapted from a New York Times recipe

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil (as needed)

• Salt, pepper

• 1 yellow onion, peeled/finely chopped

• 2 carrots, peeled/finely chopped

• 1 stalk celery, finely chopped

• 1 pound ground pork (original recipe called for mild italian pork sausage meat removed from casings, so feel free to use that, but we find it easier to just use ground pork)

• 1 pound ground beef

• A small handful of diced/roughly chopped pancetta or bacon

• ~1.5 oz dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in water to rehydrate

• 1.5 cups dry white wine

• 2 cups beef stock

• 1.5 oz porcini in 3 cups lukewarm water *or* pancetta/bacon

• 1/3 cup goat kefir (or yogurt; original recipe called for cream, but the kefir adds a nice tang)

• 1 container pasta (we often use penne, but whatever shape you like...traditionally ragu bolognese is eaten with thin, handmade tagliatelle noodles)

• 3/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese

Instructions

• You can use the pancetta/bacon and/or porcini to add umami flavor; we recommend using at least 1 of them

• Boil water for pasta

• If using pancetta/bacon, crisp/render in pan to start

• Saute onion/carrot/celery ~5 min, season with salt & pepper ~medium heat

• Add meat, turn up to medium/high, brown well

• Pour in wine, rapid simmer until pan is almost dry

• Pour 1.5 cups broth & lower to medium, simmer gently/uncovered, stirring occasionally

• If using porcini, chop them up & add with ~1 cup of the porcini water

• Start pasta cooking

• Add remaining broth/salt/pepper to sauce to adjust taste/consistency

• Add kefir before removing from heat

• Toss with pasta, reserving pasta water to add if necessary

• Grate cheese on top & serve