Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ⅔ cup chopped celery
- ⅔ cup chopped carrot
- ¾ pound ground beef chuck (or you can use 1 part pork to 2 parts beef)
- salt
- black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
- 1 cup whole milk
- whole nutmeg
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 ½ cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
- 1 ¼ to 1 ½ pounds pasta
- freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese at the table
DIRECTIONS:
- Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat them well.
- Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.
- Add milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating — about ⅛ teaspoon — of nutmeg, and stir.
- Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add ½ cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.
- Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.
© Recipe courtesy of Marcella Hazan, adapted by The New York Times.
SEPTEMBER WINE CLUB:
Heron Hill Winery
Reserve Baco Noir
Finger Lakes, New York
MELLOW WINE STYLE
Nearly an opaque ruby red with blue tones, this Baco Noir shoots from the glass with abundant aromas of bramble, juniper, raisin, black currant and earthy tones. It is medium to full bodied and hits the palate with bracing acidity, modest tannin structure and a long fruit-drive finish.
WINE DETAILS:
- Varietal: 100% Baco Noir
- Vineyard: 100% Doyle-Pulteney Vineyard, west side of Keuka Lake
- Appellation: Finger Lakes, New York
- Analysis: 13.1% alcohol / volume
- pH: 3.43
- Total Acid: 8.7 g/L – 0.87%
- Residual Sugar: 0
- Fermentation: Open top fermenters, 11 days total skin contact
- Malo-Lactic Fermentation: 100%
- Aging: Neutral French Oak, 21 months
- Production: 413 Cases of 12 Bottles
- Winemaker: Jordan Harris
FOOD PAIRING:
This wine is similar to an Italian wine with big acids. Pair with tomato sauces and medium meats like veal. Also stunning with a spaghetti bolognese topped with freshly shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.
VINEYARD INFORMATION:
Doyle Pulteney – just 5 minutes from the winery – is a steep and rocky site with gravelly loam, shale and great eastern exposure on the west side of Keuka Lake. The steep slope and morning sunlight allow for dense but fresh wines with the great drainage, yet limited afternoon heat.
VINTAGE CONDITIONS:
About as “classic” a Finger Lakes vintage as you can get. After a relatively mild winter, the spring was extended and dry, allowing for a decent fruit set that resulted in slightly above average yields. This led to the cool and dry summer with some warmth in the fall, helping to push along the fruit ripeness. Overall, this vintage offered all you would expect from a Finger Lake wine – bright acidity, moderate alcohol and lovely ripe fruit notes.
WINEMAKING:
The fruit for the Baco Noir Reserve was destemmed, leaving berries whole with one ton open top fermenters. The bins were punched down twice per day and spent 11 days on the skins prior to pressing. The wine was then transferred to neutral French oak for malolactic fermentation and completed with 21 months of élevage. After the time in barrel, the wine was assembled and filtered prior to bottling.
ABOUT HERON HILL WINERY:
Nestled in a slate hillside overlooking scenic Keuka Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region, Heron Hill has been dedicated to excellence since 1977. Rated as one of the top ten most spectacular tasting rooms in the world by Travel & Leisure magazine, the winery has become a coveted destination within New York for wine, ambiance and service.
For over 50 years, owners John and Josephine Ingle have been practicing sustainability as a way of life. To them it’s about giving respect. Respect for the land by farming sustainably and respect for the product by making it natural, fresh and healthful. Most importantly it means respect for the consumer by providing the best product and education about their long term goal of environmental balance. Today, Heron Hill offers over 20 different varieties of wine; including crisp and light Rieslings, aromatic dry Chardonnays, complex Pinot Noirs, elegant Cabernet Francs, and their legendary Eclipse series. Learn more here.
Information & Photos © Heron Hill Winery – All Rights Reserved.
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