Weeknight Bolognese

Ohhhh boy, you guys... I got some AWESOME new cookbooks for Christmas! My parents gave me two, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? and Taste of Home: Everyday Light Meals. I highly recommend both of these cookbooks! I'm very excited to dig into these two. The third cookbook I got was from my brother, The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook: Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners. Yeah buddy! This cookbook rocks! I love the fact that every recipe has a story behind it - it is a definite page-turner. I'm incredibly anxious to start making my way through it! I have already read through the introduction and several recipes and it has been hard for me to put the book down. Now I just need to get cookin'!

The majority of the recipes that I have posted in this food blog so far have been Pampered Chef recipes. I'm still going to do some Pampered Chef recipes, but I won't be quite so focused on Pampered Chef from now on. It's time to branch out more! I have three new cookbooks PACKED with some amazing recipes! My goal will be to still include at least one Pampered Chef recipe each week, since that is what my food blog was originally based on. But, you will start to see some different stuff now.

This recipe, Weeknight Bolognese, came from the first cookbook that I mentioned. It was very tasty! A great meal for a cold night. Which, tonight isn't super cold, but it has been rainy and yucky all day, so I thought this meal was fitting. As the cookbook states, Bolognese is a thick meat sauce that is a staple of northern Italy. This sauce had an incredible amount of flavor to it! The recipe calls for red wine as an ingredient, so we got a Redwood Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. I love Redwood Creek! You can find it in any grocery store and doesn't cost much. I personally think that you get a lot for what you pay with this wine. It paired exceptionally well with this meal. The food and the wine really brought out a lot of flavor in one another.

The recipe was really easy, and as I already said, full of flavor! The spices really came through, and the wine added as an ingredient added a lot to the meat sauce. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the leftovers!

Weeknight Bolognese
Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?
Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers in 2010.

Total time: About 35-40 minutes  Yield: 4-5 servings

2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra to cook the pasta
1 pound lean ground sirloin
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/4 cups dry red wine, divided
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black peper
3/4 pound dried pasta, such as orecchiette or small shells
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground sirloin and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5-7 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and has started to brown. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt, a splash of oil, and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the box.
3. While the pasta cooks, finish the sauce. Add the nutmeg, basil, cream, and the remaining 1/4 cup wine to the sauce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce and 1/2 cup Parmesan and toss well. Serve hot with Parmesan on the side.