Bolognese

Written By Josh Deri

We received some incredible tomato sauces from Jersey Italian Gravy and we are blown away by the incredible depth of flavor these sauces have even with such simple ingredients! They are all quickly becoming a family favorite in my household from a quick and easy tomato sauce with a little butter and spaghetti to ready made pizza sauces that my wife and I make with our kids. All of Jersey Italian Gravy’s sauces have minimal ingredients and the tomato flavor in each jar tastes as if the tomatoes were picked moments before the sauces were made. Trust me, you and your family will love Jersey Italian Gavy’s line of tomato sauces too!

Bolognese is a very special recipe for me. I was taught to make it at my first restaurant job by chef Michael Chiarello at Bottega Ristorante in the Napa Valley.

I was on ‘bolo’ prep almost everyday to start my shift and I learned how to really slow down and take my time on almost every part of this recipe, from the perfect brunoise of the onions and carrots and making sure to slowly cook the vegetables into a sofrito and all the way to making sure to brown the ground meat evenly and then finishing with only the best tomatoes, parmigiano-reggiano and now has evolved into my secret weapon for finishing this amazing sauce, cream cheese!

It’s been on our catering menus for Blend Catering since the say we started and is a staple in our home kitchen as well throughout the colder, winter months.

The full recipe and methods are down below!

Bolognese

 

Meat Base:

-          1 pound ground pork

-          1 pound ground

-          2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

-          Salt to season

-          1 tsp black pepper

-          1 tsp porcini mushroom powder

 

 

1.      In a large sauce pot or saute pan, turned to high heat, add your olive oil then your ground meat and press down the meat evenly across the pan so that it browns evenly.

2.      When the meat is golden brown on the first side, flip the meat and press down again. Season the meat with salt, pepper and porcini mushroom powder then begin to break the meat apart.

3.      Now you will wait until the next step to make the sofrito!

 

Soffrito:

-          2 yellow onions, small diced or chopped in food processor

-          1 large carrot, peeled, small iced or chopped in food processor

-          2 teaspoons olive oil

-          ¼ pound butter

-          Salt to season

-          6 cloves garlic, mined

-          2 bay leaves

-          1 tablespoon Calabrian chili peppers, chopped

-          1 tablespoon tomato paste

-          2 tsp black pepper

-          1 tsp dried oregano

-          4 sprigs rosemary, chopped

-          3 sprigs thyme, chopped

 

 

1.      In a medium sized saucepot or saute pan, turned to low heat, add your onions, carrots, garlic and bay leaves with the olive oil and butter and salt your vegetables immediately so they begin to sweat out.

2.      Cook over low heat for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so the sofrito does not burn then add your black pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano and cook for an additional 5 minutes

3.      When the vegetables are completely sweated out, turn the heat to medium high and add your Calabrian chilies and tomato paste to make a pincage (fancy French term for cooking out your tomato paste) and cook out the paste, scraping the pan, for about 2-3 minutes, then add the sofrito to the other pan with your browned ground meat

 

To finish the Bolognese:

-          ½ quart white wine, such as chardonnay

-          ½ quart beef bone broth, or stock

-          ½ quart Jersey Italian Gravy tomato-basil sauce

-          Salt to season

-          ¼ quart salted pasta water

-          ½ cup grated parmiggiano-reggiano or pecorino romano

-          8 large basil leaves, cleaned and torn

-          1 tsp Graza extra virgin olive oil

-          ½ tsp freshly grated black pepper

-          Cooked Rummo brand Rigatoni, spaghetti or your dried pasta of choice

 

1.      After the sofrito is added to the meat, turn the heat up to high and deglaze the pot with your white wine. Bring the wine up to a boil, then turn the heat back to medium and reduce your wine until it is half way evaporated

2.      Then, add your beef bone broth or stock, and turn the heat back up to a boil, then turn the heat back down to medium and cook until the stock or broth is reduced by ½

3.      Keep the heat at medium and add your Jersey Italian Gravy tomato-basil sauce and bring up the whole mix in the pot to a light simmer then turn your heat to low and cook, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, for at least 30 minutes and up to 45 minutes

4.      In a separate pot, begin to cook your Rummo brand dried pasta and follow the directions on the box for how long to cook your pasta.

5.      About half way through cooking your pasta, add about ¼ quart of the salted pasta water to the Bolognese to help emulsify and thicken the sauce

6.      Now add your 8 oz of cream cheese and break apart the cream cheese to emulsify into the sauce

7.      Continue to monitor your pasta so it doesn't get overcooked, since were going for al dente here!

8.      Once cooked to al dente, add your pasta to the Bolognese along with another ¼ quart of your pasta water and mix the Bolognese around to emulsify the sauce again

9.      Turn off the heat and serve! Garnish each plate with some torn basil leaves, grated pecorino or parmiggiano and some really good Graza extra virgin olive oil!

 Amazon links down below for most ingredients and other amazing things found in this video that we highly recommend!

Josh Deri
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