Bolognese Sauce
This is a smooth, tomato-forward meat sauce of the kind North American restaurants serve over spaghetti. Beaten with egg whites before it hits the pan, the lean beef cooks into fine, tender crumbs instead of chewy clumps. Whole garlic cloves perfume the oil and can be mashed back in at the end. A final half-hour rest off the heat lets the flavors settle before serving.
Instructions
Set a thick-bottomed pot over medium-low heat and add the olive oil and the peeled garlic cloves.
While the pot warms, work the ground beef and egg whites together by hand until they form a smooth, even paste.
Stir the garlic in the warming oil until you can smell it, then add the meat paste. Keep stirring and pressing to break up clumps into fine pieces, and cook until most of the juices have evaporated.
Stir in the tomato paste, then add the stewed tomatoes along with the bay leaf and oregano.
Cover the pot with the lid slightly open to vent and simmer on low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat and fish out the garlic cloves. Discard them, or mash them and stir them back into the sauce.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, going carefully because the canned tomatoes and paste already carry salt.
Cover the pot completely and let the sauce rest for half an hour, which gives you time to cook the pasta and set the table.
Make it personal.
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