Sunday, January 17, 2010

It took me 10hrs to make a 12hr Bolognese



When SlantYYZ first alerted me to this recipe for a slow cooked bolognese - I scoffed.  12hrs effort for a pasta sauce?! You're a madman, I tell you!  Downright batty!  Open up a jar of Prego and be done with it.

As I read through the recipe and the logic behind it, I became more and more intrigued.  Could slow simmering for 6+ hours really impact flavor that much?  And using star anise as a flavoring, as oppose to the usual oregano.  Interesting.  Very, very interesting.

Soon I was hooked.  I had to try and make this sauce.  Each day that I didn't make this sauce was spent in agonizing anticipation.  Realistically, I knew I couldn't attempt this without knowing I had at least a full day to spend in the kitchen.  And considering the holiday season is hectic, when could I find a day that I could devote to this recipe?  Finally, that day came.  I woke up early and carefully diced, minced and measured, devoutly following the recipe. after 6hrs of slow simmering in the oven, I got impatient (and hungry).  The sauce wasn't reducing quickly enough in the oven.  So I cheated and moved it to the stove.  It took another hour or so before it was at the desired consistency.

I served it on spaghettini with grated Parmesan cheese.  DH could barely wait before I could take a photo (granted, it was almost 8pm by now so he was HUNGRY).  The end result was a melt in your mouth sauce with a nice beefy flavor.  Very tasty.  Very rich.

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