Brookyln Bolognese

This deep and saucy meal has all the elements of nourishing comfort food. A combination of inspiration from a trip to Italy and the Italian food in Brooklyn, this meal is the epitome of “watch and learn” and “do what the Italians do, and don’t ask questions.” My Brooklyn neighbor says good pasta has a ton of cheese, so don’t skimp on the parmesan. Marrying the noodles with parmesan, salty pasta water, and sauce is the key to making a glossy sauce. If you don’t salt your pasta-water, don’t even bother. The noodles will be BLAND, no matter how hard you try. And the x-factor is 100% the garlic confit. This complex addition makes the sauce stand apart from the rest. Trust me, try it, and you’ll never go back. Finishing the pasta with a drizzle of garlic oil, fresh basil and a scoop of ricotta is reminiscent of the way they serve it at our all-time favorite Brooklyn trattoria. The colors and textures all together just sing.

“Any NJ resident needs a go-to Italian meal, and this is mine.”

I make this meal every few weeks, and it always brings “mmmmmm’s” and “I love this one” at the table. Any NJ resident needs a go-to Italian meal, and this is mine. When I get nostalgic and miss cooking in my kitchen, this is the meal I dream of making. A labor of love and a joy to serve.

Brooklyn Bolognese

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced

• 3 carrots, shredded

• 4 cloves garlic, smashed

• 2 lbs ground beef (80/20)

• 10 ounces mushrooms (optional), sliced

• 2 cans San Marzano tomatoes

• 2 TBSP tomato paste

• A good bottle of wine

• olive oil

• black pepper

• plenty of salt

• 6 sprigs fresh thyme

• fresh basil

• 1/2 c. parmesan, grated

• 1 small tub fresh ricotta

• 1 pkg interersting noodles

Method:

Coat the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and set on medium heat. Sauté onion and carrots with plenty of salt until soft and slightly caramelized. While sauteing, add chopped thyme leaves and black pepper.

Meanwhile in a small pan, add garlic and a few tablespoons of oil and simmer on low heat for 30-40 min. This is your garlic confit.

Once the veggies are cooked, remove from the pan. Generously salt ground beef and add it to the hot pan with a little more oil. Turn the heat up to medium-high and brown the beef on all sides until its crispy and caramelized. Don't rush this step. Lots of dark color = lots of flavor.

[optional: while meat is browning, brown mushrooms in a pan with oil and black pepper. After mushrooms are brown and crisp on the edges, toss in salt. Then set aside with the veggies.]

Onces the meat is browned, return the veggies to the pan and stir in tomato paste. Finely mince and add the garlic from the garlic confit. Then add a few glugs of wine to deglaze the pan. Let the mixture simmer and reduce. Then add San Marzano tomatoes and about half a can of water to the pot.

Simmer on low while noodles cook. Add a little bit of water to the sauce if it begins to stick to the bottom of the pan.

Cook noodles according to package directions in salted water. Always salt your pasta water.

Once nooodles are cooked to "al dente," grab about a mug-full of water from the pasta pot then drain noodles. This starchy cooking water will help "marry" the noodles to the sauce. Immediately add the noodles to the sauce, along with the starchy cooking water, fresh basil, and parmesan. Stir to combine until cheese is melted and noodles are evenly coated with sauce.

Use tongs to twist individual portions of pasta into wide bowls. Garnish with a scoop of fresh ricotta, a few turns of black pepper, fresh basil leaves, and a drizzle of garlic oil from the garlic confit.

Pozole with Braised Pork and Green Sauce

When I say this meal is special, I mean it. Growing up in Arizona, I definitely had my fair share of delightfully authentic Mexican food, and I never grew tired of the simplicity and homeyness of the cuisine. This meal has deep, smokey spice and that feeling of complexity that only TIME can offer. It’s a great display of the versatility of corn, with both hominy and corn chips creating texture variation and interest. Braising the pork shoulder makes the meat tender and the broth complex. It adds those deep Maillard-reaction flavors and fills the kitchen with mouth-watering aroma. Finishing the soup with a drizzle of green sauce balances the earthy stew with bright, creamy flavors.

Pork shoulder is a great cut of meat for entertaining because it won’t break the bank, it’s very forgiving, and it gets better and better with time. Not a pork person? Easily sub stew beef. The other big win with this meal is that it’s naturally gluten free, so anytime I have someone coming over with this restriction, this meal leaves us wanting nothing more. The green sauce can also easily be made dairy free, by substituting the sour cream with a dairy-free yogurt like cashew yogurt or even just doubling-up on mayo. The cotija can be substituted with nutritional yeast and a little extra salt. So this meal is a complete win if you happen to have gluten-free and dairy-free restrictions. Restrictions or not, it’s such a crowd pleaser. You can also braise the meat the day before a gathering, and then just simmer the stew with the hominy and black beans about an hour before serving. In fact, making it ahead of time makes the flavors all the more vibrant. I love love LOVE this one.