Bolognese and polenta

On nights where pasta just doesn't sound good but a hearty bolognese sounds delicious, I make this dish.  The polenta is a great counterpart to the bolognese. This makes for a quick meal when you have fast cooking polenta and the meat sauce is already made. I use this bolognese recipe for not only this dish but also for pasta, lasagna and many other Italian dishes. It's excellent in stuffed peppers and a great base to add veggies to make a hearty pasta sauce. It's somewhat time consuming but the end product can be frozen for up to 6 weeks in freezer bags and removed the morning or night before you plan to eat it.

Bolognese
2 medium carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 medium to large onion
1 lb ground beef
1 beef bouillon cube(optional)
2c. red wine
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
fresh herbs. I used oregano, about 2 TBSP and 2 TBSP of fresh basil. I am sure you could use dried. make sure to cut it down to 1TBSP each if dried.
salt and pepper

Add a few TBSP of oil to a large pot. Heat to medium heat.

In a blender or food processor mix carrots, onion, and celery until blended to a paste. Add to the pot and cook until liquid has dissolved and the paste begins to brown.

Add the ground beef, salt and pepper and brown until fully cooked.(browning means flavor so don't forget this step or the meat with be steamed in the sauce.)

Add the bouillon cube and red wine. Sometimes I will leave out the bouillon cube if the wine is really hearty. Reduce the wine by about half and then add the tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes. Turn heat to medium low and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sometimes I will cook this sauce for longer than 45 minutes.It can really simmer for up to an hour.

While the sauce is simmering, I cook the polenta according to the package directions. Try using quick cook polenta. It's great for those nights where cooking sounds awful.

Remove the lid after about 45 minutes of cooking the bolognese and stir. If most of the liquid is absorb, then the sauce is finished.

Place a dollop of polenta on a plate and then top with a scoop of bolognese.

Sprinkle with Romano or Parmesan cheese and serve.

I also topped ours with a splash of basil infused olive oil that I got from  Mountain Town Olive Oil Company on my recent trip to Park City, Utah.

*As you can see, I was too excited to eat. I didn't wait for the liquid to absorb fully in to the bolognese. It just gave me an excuse to have a big slice of crusty french bread.