in which the weather complies

as you know, i love really involved recipes. as it happens, i've had a yen for spaghetti and meatballs for some time - comforting, savory but slightly sweet, altogether delicious. it is also, however, a cold-weather food, but luckily for me the weather complied by turning chilly in the past day or so.

let's just be clear: when i say bolognese, i mean real bolognese: garlic, carrots, celery, and onions, in addition to the meat. i mean a 6-hour simmer - there is nothing "quick" about bolognese - in which the tomatoes disintegrate because they've been on the stove for six hours, and in which the meat is tender and toothsome because it's been simmering in the sauce for hours. bolognese tastes as good as it does because it takes time, not because you dump a lot of four-star ingredients into it.

so this is a delicious, honest bolognese - with an emphasis on tomatoes rather than meat, and with a strong cast of supporting vegetables. the finished product will be a thick, savory sauce that pairs well with a ridged, shell pasta. then again, we also know i have a soft spot for ridged, shell pasta, so i'm probably just biased. i find, though, that i prefer spaghetti and meatballs with non-spaghetti pasta, because i inevitably derive more pleasure from eating pasta with a spoon. plus shells are better at capturing bits of sauce than spaghetti.

for those concerned about budget, well, bolognese isn't the cheapest thing in the world, but it's not too expensive either. most of the cost goes to the meat and the tomatoes - but you will notice that i have specified plum tomatoes because they are always significantly cheaper than regular tomatoes, with more flesh and less pulp. there is also a combination of regular and canned tomatoes for budgetary reasons. ideally, you would use all real tomatoes, but a small proportion of canned tomatoes doesn't hurt. all in all, in an urban supermarket, i think this costs around $20-25, so if it feeds 6-8 people, the average cost per person is fairly low. and it's delicious!

a note about the prep work - prep the tomatoes to roast and get them in the oven first, then do the rest of your prep work. it'll give the tomatoes the time they need to caramelize well.

a note about the ingredients - do use the bacon fat if at all possible. it will give your sauce depth, and the smokiness of the fat will meld well with the acidity of the tomatoes. also use good quality bacon - bacon is one of the few things i splurge for at whole foods; you get the bacon, and then you can cook with the fat for a few months, so it's really quite economical in the end. i find that whole foods bacon just gives better fat - it has less additives and fewer artificial flavorings, or at least it tastes like it does.

bolognese sauce
olive oil
3 lbs plum tomatoes
3-4T rendered bacon fat (if you don't have this, use butter)
1 head garlic, minced
3 medium to large onions, diced finely
5 stalks celery, diced finely
5-6 carrots, peeled and diced finely
2-3T fresh thyme, stripped from the stems
2 28-oz cans whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 lbs ground beef, pork, or a mix of both
3/4c cream, light cream, or whole milk
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 lb pasta (preferably some kind of ridged pasta)
salt, olive oil

1. preheat the oven to 375F. halve and core the plum tomatoes and toss lightly with olive oil. place on a baking sheet, cut side up. roast the tomatoes in the middle of the oven for about 2-3 hours. do this first, and then prep the rest of your ingredients.

2. in a large saucepot, heat 2T of the fat over medium. add the garlic and cook for a few minutes, until the garlic is golden. add the remaining fat, onions and thyme and cook for about 10 minutes, then add the celery and carrots and continue to cook.

3. heat a skillet on medium-high and add the ground beef/pork. brown the meat, breaking it up as it cooks, then add the cream/milk. bring the cream to a simmer, stirring frequently so the cream doesn't burn. cook for about 10-15 minutes until the cream reduces slightly. remove from heat; add to the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.

4. open the canned tomatoes and drain the liquid into the pot. coarsely chop the tomatoes and add to the pot as well.

5. at this point, the roasted tomatoes should be done - they should have caramelized to brown and flattened out. you can dump them into the pot whole, or chop them coarsely before adding them. stir the sauce and continue to simmer over medium heat. add salt and pepper to taste. your sauce will have a lot of liquid in it, so simmer for 3-4 hours to let it reduce and to develop its flavor. this will also give the tomatoes time to disintegrate into the sauce.

6. when the sauce is done, heat 3 quarts of water in a large pot for the pasta. bring the water to a boil, then add about a tablespoon of salt. when the water returns to a boil, add the pasta and cook until it's al dente. drain the pasta and toss with a little bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking to itself.

7. serve sauce over pasta.

[serves 6-8]