Bolognese is one of my favorite sauces. It is also one of the most common sauces in most pasta restaurants but sadly it is also the sauce that disappoints the most. In most places, the sauce is lacking in flavor and depth, full of large lumps of meat in a heavily tomato based sauce. Recently I have been watching the show Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network. Tyler Florence shares his recipes for the "Ultimate" version of our favorite foods. Several times, his recipes are dedicated to getting good ingredients and the best cooking processes. There are times when I feel he goes overboard with ingredients and we lose the simplicity of dishes but overall his recipes are fantastic! So when Tyler Florence shared this recipe for Tagliatele Bolognese , I had to try it!

This sauce is meaty, with layers of flavor and lots of fresh ingredients. The vegetables are ground to a puree instead of chopping finely. This makes the sauce really smooth. The addition of milk gives it added silkiness. Wine helps to add to the flavors of the sauce and the slow cooking process makes the meat very very tender. And I loved the idea of serving it with a dollop of Ricotta! That was the perfect touch! I was amazed at how much of a difference it made when you're finally having the pasta.

On the first glimpse, the recipe seemed easy and almost fool proof but when I read the reviews, there were some things that I needed to watch out for and most of it boiled down to 2 things ...... the sauce had to be made in a flat wide bottom pan and I had to halve the quantities for milk and wine. I did end up making some substitutions - instead of pancetta, I used bacon and used brown mushrooms instead of dried porcinis called out in the recipe. But it did turn out good inspite of the substitutions. It is important to season with the right kinds of ingredients at every stage. Another thing I did differently was to season the raw meats with herbs, salt, pepper and garlic powder before we added it to the vegetables. This adds more flavor to the meat as well. I also like to season the tomatoes with salt, pepper and mixed herbs before adding them to the sauce.

Ingredients

200 gms fresh button mushrooms

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Bay leaves

2 sprigs rosemary

2 tsp dried mixed herbs

1 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 pound ground pork

1 1/2 pound ground beef

1 cup milk

1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes crushed and seasoned with salt, pepper and mixed herbs

1 cup dry red wine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound dry tagliatelle pasta

Freshly grated parmesan, for serving

1 handful fresh basil leaves

Fresh ricotta cheese

Directions

1. Puree the mushrooms, pancetta, onion, celery stalks, carrots, garlic, together in a blender. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and mixed dried herbs to the meat and mix well. In a heavy-bottomed pot add olive oil, bay leaves, herbs and cook

gently until fragrant, then add vegetable puree and continue to cook for

a further 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Raise the heat a bit and add the ground pork and beef; brown until

the meat is no longer pink, breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon.

Add the milk and simmer until the liquid is evaporated, about 10

minutes.

3. Carefully pour in the tomatoes, and wine and season with salt

and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat.

Slowly simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the

sauce is very thick. Taste again for salt and pepper.

4. When you are ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a

boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until Al Dente. Drain the pasta and set aside.

5. In a pan, heat up the amount of sauce that you need with the pasta. Add some red chilli flakes and grated lemon zest. Serve with a good scoop of fresh ricotta cheese and garnish with some shredded basil and grated parmesan.