Weeknight Bolognese
Did anyone else grow up with a weekly dinner rotation? My favorite night was always spaghetti and meat sauce night served with a loaf of sliced sandwich bread and country crock “butter.” I think I mostly filled up on the thickly buttered slices of bread which I used to scoop all of the leftover sauce from my plate. Man, how I loved those nights! We don’t have a weekly rotation of meals and only have a few recipes that we repeat year round (occupational hazard!), but a hearty bolognese is just the type of winter meal that I could eat week after week during these cold, dusky evenings. All of my research on Italian cuisine shows that “Sunday sauce” is often simmered for hours upon hours and requires much tasting and tweaking. A weeknight bolognese is more up my alley. It’s nothing more than some sautéed veggies with browned ground beef simmered for 30 minutes in a jarred marinara that already has that slow simmered taste.
Ingredients:
makes 8 servings
2 pounds ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon italian seasoning blend (or a handful of chopped fresh parsley)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 jars of your favorite marinara
(my absolute favorite is the 365 brand)
1 cup of whole milk
Directions:
In a wide, high sided skillet or a large pot set to medium heat, brown the ground beef. Pour off the excess fat and scrape the browned beef onto a plate and set aside. Put a bit of olive oil in the same pan and add the onion, garlic, and carrots. Saute them with the salt and italian seasoning or parsley until softened and starting to get golden bits. This will also help to deglaze the pan and pick up those little flavorful bits. When the veggies are nice and soft, pour the balsamic vinegar into the pan and stir it through. Use a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan as the vinegar reduces. It should only take a few minutes. Pour the marinara over top and add the milk and browned ground beef. Give it a good stir and put the lid on top. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes or longer if you’d like! Serve with pasta and some bread and watch your family’s eyes light up!
