Hello all. So it's been a little while since I've posted anything here. I apologize. I've noticed whenever I have a life change, I tend to neglect this blog lol. The most recent change for me was starting a new job, so naturally, I haven't posted on here. But, now that I'm settled into my job I'll try to get back in the swing of things. Tonights dinner is one of my favorite Rachael Ray meals. It's comforting, it's hearty, it's delicious, and it's extremely easy to make. This, is Rachael Ray's "Genovese Red Sauce with Egg Tagliatelle."
So the only thing you really have to cook in this recipe is the sauce. To start it, heat a few tablespoons of EVOO in either a soup pot or a cast iron dutch oven. My dutch oven is probably my favorite piece of cookware to cook in. If you don't have one, I would HIGHLY recommend getting one. You can do virtually anything in them and they just work beautifully. But I digress. Heat the EVOO over medium heat. When the oil is rippling and just starting to waft a little smoke, add in the pancetta. Stir it until it begins to get crispy and then add in prosciutto. Again, stir until the prosciutto begins to get crispy and then add in your veal. If you don't like veal, you could substitute 80/20 ground beef. Veal is very buttery in taste so if you are going to substitute a ground beef, it needs to be a fattier grind in order to get that buttery flavor. If you are really trying to watch your figure, you could substitute ground sirloin, but the flavor will not be the same and the sauce will not have the same richness. Crumble the meat into a fine crumble until it is lightly browned. A have a pampered chef tool that was given to me by my Aunt Lori that is star shaped and is the best tool I've ever used to break up meat. If you don't have that, a potato masher is great tool to use to break up the meat! Once the meat is browned, add in the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper and a few grates of nutmeg. Stir the onions in and then partially cover the pot. By leaving the lid slightly ajar, you allow a little of the steam to escape, but trap most of it in, which forces the onions along and cooks them a little faster. The recipe doesn't call for this, but once the onions are soft and translucent, I actually drain the fat off the meat. I've made this sauce before and not done that, and it ends up with a lot of fat on top of the sauce. Draining the fat off definitely helped to reduce that to virtually no fat on the top of the sauce. Once the meat is drained, add it back to the pot and add in the tomato paste and stir it until it is fragrant. Once fragrant, add in the wine and heat through, then add in the milk. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and let the sauce simmer for 3 hours. You'll need about 2 cups of chicken stock or water to thin the sauce as it simmers. I find that adding 1 cup after an hour of cooking and another cup after the second hour of cooking will keep the sauce from going too far.
Once the sauce is complete, heat a pot of water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, salt the water and drop the pasta. The pasta that is called for in this dish is egg tagliatelle. When I lived in Birmingham, I was never able to find this pasta. Whole foods had an egg pappardelle pasta that I always used when living there. One of the perks of living in NY is that there are specialty markets all over the place and lucky for me, there is an Italian foods market a mile from my apartment that sells egg tagliatelle. If you can't find the tagliatelle, you can substitute an egg pappardelle or an egg fettuccine. Cook the pasta to al dente or even a hair shy of al dente as it will continue to cook when you toss it with the sauce. Once the pasta is done, reserve a little bit of the starchy cooking water. Rachael Tip: The starchy cooking water is the glue that will bind the sauce to the pasta. So don't forget the starchy cooking water! Once I drained the pasta, I added it back to the hot pot and added the starchy cooking water and half of the sauce. Add in about 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and toss it together until the sauce wraps around and sticks to the pasta. Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta and then serve in shallow bowls topped with more parmigiano-reggiano cheese and a little chopped flat leaf parsley.
This really is one of my favorite Rachael Ray meals. It is so simple to make but the flavor is the definition of pure comfort. If you don't make any other meals I blog about, you have to make this one. You'll love it as much as I do. Buon Appetito!!
Recipe:
The recipe for this meal was featured on Rachael Ray's Week In A Day and can be found at the following link.
http://recipes.foodnetwork.com/search?q=genovese+red+sauce
So the only thing you really have to cook in this recipe is the sauce. To start it, heat a few tablespoons of EVOO in either a soup pot or a cast iron dutch oven. My dutch oven is probably my favorite piece of cookware to cook in. If you don't have one, I would HIGHLY recommend getting one. You can do virtually anything in them and they just work beautifully. But I digress. Heat the EVOO over medium heat. When the oil is rippling and just starting to waft a little smoke, add in the pancetta. Stir it until it begins to get crispy and then add in prosciutto. Again, stir until the prosciutto begins to get crispy and then add in your veal. If you don't like veal, you could substitute 80/20 ground beef. Veal is very buttery in taste so if you are going to substitute a ground beef, it needs to be a fattier grind in order to get that buttery flavor. If you are really trying to watch your figure, you could substitute ground sirloin, but the flavor will not be the same and the sauce will not have the same richness. Crumble the meat into a fine crumble until it is lightly browned. A have a pampered chef tool that was given to me by my Aunt Lori that is star shaped and is the best tool I've ever used to break up meat. If you don't have that, a potato masher is great tool to use to break up the meat! Once the meat is browned, add in the onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, pepper and a few grates of nutmeg. Stir the onions in and then partially cover the pot. By leaving the lid slightly ajar, you allow a little of the steam to escape, but trap most of it in, which forces the onions along and cooks them a little faster. The recipe doesn't call for this, but once the onions are soft and translucent, I actually drain the fat off the meat. I've made this sauce before and not done that, and it ends up with a lot of fat on top of the sauce. Draining the fat off definitely helped to reduce that to virtually no fat on the top of the sauce. Once the meat is drained, add it back to the pot and add in the tomato paste and stir it until it is fragrant. Once fragrant, add in the wine and heat through, then add in the milk. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and let the sauce simmer for 3 hours. You'll need about 2 cups of chicken stock or water to thin the sauce as it simmers. I find that adding 1 cup after an hour of cooking and another cup after the second hour of cooking will keep the sauce from going too far.
Once the sauce is complete, heat a pot of water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, salt the water and drop the pasta. The pasta that is called for in this dish is egg tagliatelle. When I lived in Birmingham, I was never able to find this pasta. Whole foods had an egg pappardelle pasta that I always used when living there. One of the perks of living in NY is that there are specialty markets all over the place and lucky for me, there is an Italian foods market a mile from my apartment that sells egg tagliatelle. If you can't find the tagliatelle, you can substitute an egg pappardelle or an egg fettuccine. Cook the pasta to al dente or even a hair shy of al dente as it will continue to cook when you toss it with the sauce. Once the pasta is done, reserve a little bit of the starchy cooking water. Rachael Tip: The starchy cooking water is the glue that will bind the sauce to the pasta. So don't forget the starchy cooking water! Once I drained the pasta, I added it back to the hot pot and added the starchy cooking water and half of the sauce. Add in about 1/2 cup of grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and toss it together until the sauce wraps around and sticks to the pasta. Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta and then serve in shallow bowls topped with more parmigiano-reggiano cheese and a little chopped flat leaf parsley.
This really is one of my favorite Rachael Ray meals. It is so simple to make but the flavor is the definition of pure comfort. If you don't make any other meals I blog about, you have to make this one. You'll love it as much as I do. Buon Appetito!!
Recipe:
The recipe for this meal was featured on Rachael Ray's Week In A Day and can be found at the following link.
http://recipes.foodnetwork.com/search?q=genovese+red+sauce
