Ingredients
1 lb. pasta (some sort of open pasta that allows the sauce to get inside like shells, orecchiette, rigatoni, campanelle, garganelli)
1/2 lb. ground pork or ground beef
1/2 lb. mild or sweet pork sausage
1/2 lb. spicy pork sausage
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery rip, green only, finely chopped
1 Vidalia (sweet) onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup whole or 2% milk
2 Tbsp. sage, finely chopped
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 cup very good quality Ricotta cheese
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Fresh basil, chiffonade
Fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onions, celery and carrots in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking for a few minutes before adding in the garlic. Stir a little longer. Vegetables should be soft and very fragrant; at that point, add in all of the pork. Break it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. The goal here is to cook the pork through, but not to necessarily brown it. Keep heat at medium, no higher. Once the pinky raw look is gone, add milk and cook until completely evaporated. This really softens and tenderizes the meat. It’s my secret ingredient. Once milk is evaporated, add sage and tomato paste. Cook until tomato paste is fully integrated into meat, then add red wine. Allow to almost entirely absorb into the meat, then add tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. I’m a firm believer in…the longer a sauce or soup cooks, the better. However, the longer you keep it on, the lower the heat should be so that it doesn’t completely thicken. You should also cover the pot.
When ready to eat, bring pot of water to boil for the pasta. Once boiling, add a ton of salt to the pot. Cook pasta two minutes shy of instructions on the box. Before draining, make sure to reserve at least one cup of the pasta water. Return drained pasta to the pot, add about a cup of ricotta cheese and 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of pasta water and stir until pasta is fully coated with the cheese. This ricotta magic is the best trick I’ve ever learned (thank you, Rachael Ray). I will never serve red sauce pasta any other way again. Add enough of the Bolognese sauce to fully coat the pasta in the pot. Serve in individual bowls with extra sauce on top, freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, parsley and basil.