[0 - 1] - I'm Lish Steiling.
[1 - 2] I'm a professional chef,
[2 - 3] and today, I'm gonna show you the real way
[3 - 5] to make bolognese.
[5 - 10] We are talking silky, savory, comforting bolognese.
[10 - 12] This is Bolognese 101.
[13 - 16] The misconceptions of bolognese are pretty much
[16 - 18] that it's just a meat and tomato sauce.
[18 - 22] The layers of flavor in this recipe are everything.
[22 - 24] From browning the meat,
[24 - 25] to adding the vegetables,
[25 - 28] to making sure that you caramelize the tomato paste,
[28 - 30] to reducing the milk,
[30 - 32] to adding the wine,
[32 - 34] all of it has a purpose.
[34 - 36] It takes time and patience,
[36 - 41] but really, it's not complicated. [upbeat music]
[41 - 43] A Dutch oven is perfect for a sauce like this
[43 - 45] because it cooks for a really long time.
[45 - 46] The bottom is nice and heavy,
[46 - 48] so that you prevent scorching.
[48 - 51] So you're gonna get 'er going over medium-high-ish heat.
[51 - 54] Add a good amount of olive oil to the bottom of this pan.
[54 - 57] So our oil is dancing in the pan.
[57 - 59] It's moving freely, leaving ribbons.
[59 - 60] I'm gonna start with my ground beef.
[60 - 63] I'm using 80/20 here, [pot sizzling]
[63 - 65] and I'm gonna start to brown that.
[65 - 67] As this beef is cooking,
[67 - 69] I'm breaking it up with a wooden spoon
[69 - 73] 'cause I want all of that meat to be nice and fine,
[73 - 74] so that it clings to the pasta.
[75 - 76] I'm not gonna cook it fully here
[76 - 78] because I'm gonna add the vegetables,
[78 - 79] and as those cook,
[79 - 82] the meat will continue to cook and start to brown.
[82 - 84] So it's, again, just layering all of these flavors.
[84 - 87] You can see there's even some fat rendering out
[88 - 90] Onion, finely chopped.
[90 - 93] A carrot, finely chopped as well.
[93 - 95] The carrot adds sweetness.
[95 - 97] And then a rib of celery
[97 - 101] because, again, it's just the magic of the trinity, the mirepoix.
[101 - 103] Season with some salt,
[103 - 105] because we're building our flavors here.
[105 - 108] Each ingredient deserves to taste the best that it can,
[108 - 110] and that means each ingredient needs salt,
[110 - 112] so you layer along the way.
[112 - 115] I like to hand dice all of my vegetables.
[115 - 116] You can also do it in a food prep.
[116 - 118] There's no shame in that game.
[118 - 121] So now, we're gonna let this cook until the meat starts
[121 - 123] to brown a little bit.
[123 - 126] This should take about five to seven minutes.
[126 - 128] Bolognese is not a sauce
[128 - 131] that you wanna start on a Monday night at 8:00 pm.
[131 - 132] It takes time,
[132 - 134] it takes patience,
[134 - 136] but the building of flavor is worth it,
[136 - 139] and it all comes from the technique.
[139 - 141] My meat is starting to get a little bit of color on it,
[141 - 144] and the vegetables are starting to soften.
[144 - 146] So this is only gonna take a couple more minutes
[146 - 149] to get just that whisper of golden brown on the meat,
[149 - 151] vegetables soft all the way through.
[151 - 153] So I am pretty much there.
[153 - 156] They're starting to get some browning around the edge.
[156 - 158] A little bit of garlic goes in,
[158 - 159] about two cloves.
[159 - 163] I add it after sweating out the vegetables
[163 - 164] and browning the meat a little bit
[164 - 166] 'cause you don't wanna overcook and brown the garlic
[166 - 168] and risk it tasting bitter.
[168 - 171] I'm scraping up all the bits that might be sticking
[171 - 173] to the bottom a little bit,
[173 - 176] getting the spoon around the side.
[176 - 178] Couple minutes longer.
[178 - 181] While that's cooking, I'm gonna crush some tomatoes.
[181 - 185] So I have a can of San Marzano tomatoes
[185 - 187] that I'm gonna hand crush,
[187 - 190] and honestly, it helps with finding out
[190 - 192] if there's any of those pesky nubbins left.
[192 - 193] Like, you can see right there,
[193 - 195] that's actually the little nubbin from the tomato.
[195 - 197] You don't wanna bite into that.
[197 - 200] Canned tomatoes are picked at their peak
[200 - 201] and canned at their peak,
[201 - 202] so you always know that you're gonna have
[202 - 206] that consistent in-season tomato flavor.
[206 - 208] I'm starting to get the browning at the bottom of the pan,
[208 - 211] which is exactly what we want.
[211 - 214] So now, tomato paste, double concentrate.
[214 - 216] About 1/4 cup or so goes
[216 - 219] into a little cleared section of the pot
[219 - 221] because we wanna toast it.
[221 - 223] We wanna bring out all the caramelly goodness
[223 - 226] and the natural sweetness of the tomato paste,
[226 - 229] and we do that by adding heat to it
[229 - 231] and cooking it in some of that oil
[231 - 232] that's already in the pan.
[232 - 235] You can already see the tomato paste is nice and toasted,
[235 - 237] and the color changed.
[237 - 240] Now, I'm mixing it back into the meat.
[240 - 243] That brown goodness at the bottom of the pan,
[243 - 244] known as the fond,
[244 - 246] is starting to stick even more.
[246 - 247] So now, it's time to deglaze it,
[247 - 249] so that we don't scorch it.
[249 - 250] So now, we add the milk.
[250 - 251] Milk is a pretty classic ingredient
[251 - 253] when it comes to making bolognese.
[253 - 257] Milk used to be there just for tenderizing the meat
[257 - 259] because the cut of meat that they would use was so tough.
[259 - 261] Now, we keep it in there
[261 - 263] because it balances out the acid of the tomatoes.
[263 - 266] It adds sweetness and richness to the sauce,
[266 - 268] and it still tenderizes the meat slightly,
[268 - 271] leaving you with a very silky mouthfeel
[271 - 272] when you eat the sauce.
[272 - 274] So this is gonna go until the milk
[274 - 277] is practically completely evaporated and reduced.
[277 - 280] You wanna give it some attention as it does this.
[280 - 281] It's gonna take about 20 minutes.
[281 - 283] You wanna keep stirring the bottom,
[283 - 285] so that you don't burn the bottom of the pan.
[285 - 288] It's gonna start to look a little almost separated,
[288 - 289] and that's okay.
[289 - 290] That's what you want, actually.
[290 - 292] Everything's gonna come together in the end.
[292 - 294] It has been about 20 minutes,
[294 - 297] and when I tell you that I could stop right here
[297 - 298] and eat it, I'm not lying.
[298 - 301] The milk is almost entirely evaporated,
[301 - 303] but it's changed the look of the meat.
[303 - 305] It seems silkier.
[305 - 307] It seems more velvety.
[307 - 309] I can scrape the mixture to a side,
[309 - 311] and there's not liquid left.
[311 - 314] That's your indicator that you're ready for the next step.
[314 - 318] I'm going to add about a cup of red wine to the mixture.
[318 - 320] This is gonna add depth of flavor.
[320 - 322] It's going to add acid.
[322 - 325] It adds a little character and backbone.
[325 - 327] It's layering those flavors.
[327 - 329] So now, we're gonna let the wine reduce.
[329 - 331] It's been about 10 or 12 minutes.
[331 - 333] We're back pretty much to the same spot
[333 - 336] that I was with the whole milk.
[336 - 338] It leaves a little clean space in the bottom of the pan.
[338 - 340] It's still so silky.
[340 - 341] Look at that.
[341 - 343] So now, at this point,
[343 - 345] I'm gonna add my hand crushed tomatoes
[345 - 346] over the back of the spoon,
[346 - 348] so that it doesn't splash.
[348 - 352] I'm gonna nestle in a little aromatic.
[352 - 356] Bay leaf adds almost a grassy eucalyptus note to it.
[356 - 358] So I just use dry bay leaf.
[358 - 362] So now, the secret ingredient is the Parmesan rind,
[362 - 364] which is completely edible,
[364 - 366] and we're gonna throw it in the sauce,
[366 - 370] so that all of that nutty goodness from the cheese,
[370 - 372] all that flavor goes into the sauce.
[374 - 376] So I'm taking about half of that rind,
[376 - 378] nestling that in there along with the bay leaf.
[378 - 380] Tuck it away.
[380 - 382] I'm gonna see where we're at on seasoning.
[383 - 385] I'm gonna add just a little bit of salt,
[385 - 386] 'cause it's gonna reduce,
[386 - 388] so I don't wanna season too much now,
[388 - 390] but I still want all of the ingredients
[390 - 392] to taste the best that they can.
[392 - 395] Now, I'll let it simmer for about two hours.
[395 - 396] You still wanna give it a stir,
[396 - 399] maybe every 15, 20 minutes or so,
[399 - 402] just to prevent it from burning at the bottom of the pan.
[402 - 405] So this sauce looks perfect right now.
[405 - 407] It is reduced.
[407 - 409] You can see that it's all about the meat.
[409 - 412] The texture is beautiful and silky.
[412 - 414] This is gonna be perfect picked up
[414 - 416] with some tagliatelle or pappardelle,
[416 - 422] any kind of thicker, flat noodle. Perfection. [upbeat music]
[422 - 425] The marriage of the sauce and pasta together,
[425 - 429] you toss it together so that the sauce coats the pasta.
[429 - 430] It's not just on top.
[430 - 433] It's a whole dance that happens in the pan
[433 - 434] that makes the magic happen.
[434 - 436] The sauce bolognese
[436 - 438] is ready to use however you want to use it,
[438 - 440] however I want to use it,
[440 - 443] and in this case, it's gonna be with pasta, tagliatelle.
[443 - 445] Generously season our pasta water.
[445 - 448] This is your one opportunity to season your pasta.
[448 - 450] The pasta is gonna absorb the water.
[450 - 455] So I'm just gonna drop in some fresh tagliatelle here, two bunches.
[455 - 459] A flat, wide pasta is the best to use
[459 - 460] for this sauce because it clings
[460 - 462] to the pasta incredibly well.
[462 - 464] While the pasta cooks,
[464 - 467] I am going to warm up some pasta sauce, our bolognese.
[469 - 472] In Italy, you would never get pasta
[472 - 475] that just has sauce plopped on top.
[475 - 476] It's always tossed.
[476 - 477] It needs to coat the pasta.
[477 - 479] I'm gonna turn on this burner.
[479 - 481] Warm the sauce up a little bit.
[481 - 483] I'm adding a little bit of pasta water,
[483 - 485] just to loosen it and help warm it through.
[485 - 488] It's probably maybe about 1/4 of a cup's worth.
[488 - 489] Pasta should be close.
[489 - 495] Let's see what we got. Love. Pasta in.
[495 - 496] Oh my goodness.
[496 - 499] So imagine if you just put the sauce on top.
[499 - 501] Then, you have to take the pasta.
[501 - 503] You have to take some sauce.
[503 - 504] You have to make your bite, right?
[504 - 507] This way, every single piece of pasta
[507 - 509] is coated in the sauce.
[509 - 511] This is the love, people.
[511 - 513] Little bit more pasta water
[513 - 515] 'cause we want it to coat well.
[515 - 516] Little bit of olive oil.
[516 - 519] So you really just wanna toss the pasta around.
[519 - 521] You can do this with tongs,
[521 - 523] or you can do the flip.
[523 - 525] If you don't feel comfortable with the flip,
[525 - 526] don't worry about it.
[526 - 527] Tongs are your best friend.
[527 - 529] You just wanna make sure
[529 - 532] that the pasta is coated in the sauce.
[532 - 533] We are about there.
[533 - 535] I'm gonna add some Parmigiano Reggiano
[535 - 538] to finish at the end here.
[538 - 541] Once this is added in, I'm gonna turn off the heat,
[541 - 544] because you don't wanna continue to cook the cheese.
[544 - 547] You just wanna toss it with the pasta.
[549 - 552] All right, we're ready to plate.
[552 - 553] Look at this, huh?
[553 - 559] Every strand is coated in the sauce, I mean. Oh yeah.
[559 - 560] Just a little nest.
[562 - 563] A showering of parm regg.
[565 - 571] This is my perfect bowl of pasta bolognese. [bright music] Yes.
[573 - 575] Mm! Let me tell you.
[575 - 577] The flavors of this bolognese,
[577 - 579] it's sweet, it's savory.
[579 - 581] You taste every single step,
[581 - 583] the flavors that you've built throughout the process.
[583 - 587] You took your time, you did it right, and it shows.
[587 - 589] This is a pasta sauce
[589 - 592] that I have made many, many times in my career, in my life,
[592 - 593] and it never gets old.
[594 - 596] To me, this is the real way to make bolognese,
[596 - 598] and it really pays off.