Spaghetti bolognese - the steemit Italian food challenge

After some thought I decided to go for the full version of the dish, including making Tagliatelle and the sauce for the pasta.

Now this version takes at least 4 hours to do - So this is the real deal

(so if you are hungry, you better opt for the shortcut versions, there are many available on the internet)

You will need the following ingredients:

• 600gr Minced Beef of good quality (if you have the option to get a good piece at the butchers and then ask them to mince it for you, you have a winner)
• 250gr quality Pork Bacon
• 2 Onions
• 2 Carrots
• 500gr Tomatoes
• 250gr Celery
• 3-4 Cloves of Garlic
• A glass of Milk
• A glass of Dry White Wine (now I am using local Russian products, so local wine will underline them in the best way)
• Herbs: Red Basil leaves, fresh Rosemary, Bay leaves, fresh Thyme
• Spices: Black ground Pepper, Nutmeg, Salt, and Oregano
• Parmesan cheese
• Flour
• 4-5 Eggs
• Olive Oil
• Butter

The making:

Firstly, prepare all the ingredients that need preparation. That is - chop the onion, the carrots, the celery, the bacon (for now chop into big pieces only), grate the garlic, grate the tomatoes, mix the spices, wash the herbs.

Take a pan with a very thick bottom (that is important, as we are going to cook for a while)

Add the 2 types of butter to the pan

Add the onion, and fry until it turns slightly golden

Add the garlic, fry together for 2-3 minutes

Add the bacon to the pan, fry until the fat from the bacon starts to melt

Take out the bacon along with the fat out of the pan (do not worry if you take some onion or garlic out with it)

Add the carrots and the celery, and fry for 10 minutes (if you feel like you need to add water, go ahead, but make sure it evaporates completely)

Add the minced beef, along with 1/3 of the mixed up spices, mix well. Fry until the meat looses it's raw color.

While the meat is cooking, chop the bacon to smaller pieces. Take out the fat, you will not need it. You can add the left overs of the onion and the oil from the plate where the bacon was lying, back to the pan

Mix everything well, and add the milk. Leave it until it fully evaporates.

Add the wine. Also let it fully evaporate. Remember to mix every 2 minutes.

*(Make sure that the milk and the wine are not cold when you add them to the meat)

Add back the bacon and the rest of the spices. Fry it for 2-3 minutes and mix again

Add the tomatoes and the fresh herbs. Mix well

Leave the pan open, on medium fire for 30 - 45 minutes until some of the tomato juice evaporates. Then close the lid and simmer for 2-3 hours (the longer the better, mix every 10-20 minutes)

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While the sauce is cooking, let's make the pasta!

Sieve the flour

Mix in 2 eggs and 2 eggs yolks, along with 30gr of olive oil and a pinch of salt

Make a hole at the top of the flour and pour in the mixture

Start mixing with both of your hands, until you form a dough. If you feel like you need to add flour or another egg, go ahead and do it.

Leave in for 40-45 minutes to rest, under a cover

Roll the dough out quite thin

Flour it on both sides, and roll it into a roulette

Cut into slices

*(Now, you can see that mine came out to thick, but you can fix those by rolling them out separately)

Roll the slices out, and Voila, we have our Tagliatelle

Boil in hot water (slightly salted), for 4-6 minutes.

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Serve, with a glass of the same wine it was cooked in. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and some herbs!

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