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Cooking Notes
CBaker
This is one of the most amazingly delicious recipes. We didn't use any cream at all...swapped in a pound of sliced mushrooms for the ground beef and used spicy rather than sweet sausage. To further lighten the dish up we served it over roasted cauliflower (roasted at 400, tossed lightly in olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt in a cast iron skillet) rather than pasta. Words cannot express how much my family loves this dish.
Patricia Garcia
just a tip: use the widest-bottomed pot you have, to greatly reduce the time it takes to reduce all the liquids, ie: wine, beef broth, mushroom liquids; as in the recipe.
Patricia Garcia
It is not a true Bolognese without a bit of nutmeg...it is heavenly!
anne
Given that onion, carrot and celery take different times to soften, first add the onion, wait a bit, then the carrot,wait a bit and finally the celery.
Martha
Why, oh why do professional chefs and food authors insist on using extra virgin olive oil for cooking? It is much too heavy and viscous and has a low smoking point. It also loses its lovely fragrance and flavor in the heat. Take a sniff before and after you heat it and see.
It's meant for salad and finishing. Save your money and use a good quality all-purpose olive oil for cooking.
Otherwise, this recipe is lovely.
Kelly Hall
I made a double batch, and because of pan space I put the vegetables in a dish after cooking them while everyting else cooked. I was glad I did; it takes a long time to reduce the liquids and the vegetables would have been too mushy had they remained in with everything else while cooking the sauce.
ghc30
been making a version for years also.
instead of pork sausage, use a flavorful smoked bacon or pancetta. Add a small amount of chicken liver if desired for a more complex flavor. vermouth works better than white wine
Renata
We've been cooking this for years -- from a magazine article by Amanda Hesser titled "Local Hero" under Food Diary 2.17.02. It was adapted from Heidi da Empoli. We double or even triple up on the veggies, do not add the porcini mushrooms until step 3 (as instructed) and relish the smells that waft through the kitchen. It takes a while to reduce each time, but it's worth the effort. It freezes well for those nights you don't have the energy to cook.
California Cook
Trader Joe's uncooked Italian chicken sausage...
excellent flavor.
Florence Slipper
I made this last night and I used a huge skillet (12") and it was more than roomy enough for the ingredients and made reducing the liquid much faster. I would say it took no more than 40 mins. Not labor intensive as one only needs to chop 3 veg. Loved it, and loved how the pasta held the sauce. Proportion of protein to pasta was perfect , too. I will play with the flavors next time. I did add a bit of nutmeg to the meat as it was sauteeing and an avalanche of fresh parsley at the end.
Kathy
I added the mushrooms before adding the mushroom liquid to allow them to cook a bit first. Key is browning of the meat and being sure the liquids are each absorbed before moving on with the recipe. We enjoyed it very much and found it to be quite flavorful. Will definitely be made again.
kathyabc88
This was delicious. Added two cloves of garlic minced like someone suggested. Used whole milk instead of cream. This looked just like the photo. Will make again. My husband is Sicilian, and he really enjoyed this meal. Served with crusty bread and red wine.
Nikki
Anne, they are taking inspiration from the dish. Cooking should be fun and not so rigid.
Toni Hughes
This is delicious! I did follow the recipe with the exception of the bouillon cube. I honestly did not know these were still available. I used beef stock.
In the future I would definitely drain the beef and the sausage. It was very greasy. I would also wait to add the carrots and celery. The celery was invisible and the carrots were mushy.
This is a certainly a once in a while treat!
Kathleen
For those of us who get heartburn from tomato-based sauces, this is a great alternative.
Brenda from Socal
Make it! It’s delicious. We used hot Italian sausage and used fresh mushrooms. My family loved it. Used pasta for some and roasted cauliflower for other eaters, both were fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
Doug
This is delicious! Though made it on a weeknight and forgot to look at the comments annnd 3 different steps of reducing in a 7qt Dutch oven took an hour and a half.
Donna.
This recipe is not good! Way too much liquid. It didn’t work well at all. Dang!!
Mr Brown
Followed the recipe to a T, except I graded about 3 inches of the rihne of the Parmigiano Reggiono into the sauce. This recipe is now in my cook to impress cook book
Fiona
I have been making this recipe for years. I don’t like mushrooms so I skip it, and I add a few grates of nutmeg. I have served this serval times for dinner parties and everyone loves it. It does take some time but well worth it.
Jo Ann
This took longer than expected to make due to all the reduction of various liquids, but it was totally worth the wait. I had some Italian chicken sausage and ground turkey in the fridge, so I used that instead of beef and pork, and it worked out great, very moist but not greasy at all. I had never used dried porcini mushrooms before, and they smelled a little funky, but the finished product was a hit. I will definitely make this again!
KaneSugar
This was awesome! I used a small tub of Creme Fraiche (Spelling?) instead of heavy cream & added some frozen veggie mix (corn, peas, beans) towards the end of cooking for extra vegetable hit. So good :)
Leslie T
Cooked this tonight. Took a bit longer and made a few deviations. Instead of sweet Italian sausage, I used hot Italian sausage, as my husband loves anything spicy. Also, I'd purchased it to make the "regular" rigatoni, but he's also not the biggest fan of tomato based dishes. I also didn't have dried porcini, but did have dried. shiitake...no problem! All-in-all, it was excellent and he loved it. Oh, used a Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc, as I didn't have an Italian white wine in our cellar.
Jen
finally - a pasta dish without tomato! Not all of us have stomachs that can handle tomato so this is a blessing...thank you!
Warren
Two pounds of meat for 4 servings?
TEXFK
This was delicious!!! No modifications necessary!
lollo
Just made this as directed with 3 minor additions during the sauté: bay leaves, rosemary and garlic as per my Italian mother’s advice. Now for the non-recommended substitution-ground chicken instead of beef. I was a little worried about it but after the entire process it was still absolutely delicious and richly flavored!
BayCook
I used lamb garlic sausage, because it's what I had, and added some red pepper flakes and fennel to make up for the sausage not being Italian. I used less liquid overall than the recipe calls for. I also used NutPods plant-based creamer instead of real cream (due to a dairy allergy in our house). I also took other people's suggestions to cook down the liquids individually, rather than adding all of them at once. Other than that, I followed the recipe. It was wonderful.
Mx
How not to make it dry. Drained the sauce into a large bowl. Put the cooked pasta in the large bowl. When pasta is coated with sauce, fold in the drained meat.
Mary
Why are you making two cups beef broth and only using 1 1/2 cups?
Richard X
I bouillon cube makes 2 cups of broth. You could probably use 3/4 of a cube with 1-1/2 cups of water if you want to be fussy. But what would you do with the 1/4 cube that's left? Why not just put the leftover broth in a mug and have it with a piece of toast?
Richard X
One bouillon cube makes 2 cups of broth. If you want only 1-1/2 cups, use 3/4 of a cube. Or you could have a mug (1/2 cup) of broth with some toast.
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