Joe's Spaghetti Bolognese

My roommate makes the most amazing, homey, hearty, rich, robust, delicious spag bol I've ever had in my life. Aside from the wild boar ragu at Myth (* sob *). note to self to get resos at Zinnia for Sean O'Briens wild boar meat sauce; nom.

He's made it twice now and every time I smell it cooking I come running. The first time I just had to have a taste, even though I had already eaten. The second time I was lucky enough to get my own gigantic portion. I determined then and there, that I simply must have this dish for my birthday dinner. He seemed to think I was teasing him, but oh no. This spag bol is the way I think spag bol was meant to taste. It's perfect.

Since he'll be off in lalaland (psh) for my birthday, I can't demand he make it for me and my friends as a gift in honor of the kickoff to my 32nd year on Earth. Damn.

What's a girl to do except to insist that he divulge all of his Mexican-English based Italian cuisine secrets? Last night was the night that he looked over my shoulder and walked me through it and well; I came close. There is just something that I can't quite grasp. Some weird, teeny tiny little spark that I was just unable to capture. Is it umami? Bay leaf? Acidity? I cannot tell but it was woefully absent from last night's attempt. To say I'm devastated is to put it mildly. That spark is what I wanted to serve! Without it, it's just spag bol! Good spag bol, but not Joe's LIFE ALTERING spag bol. It's a depth of flavor that I can't quite figure out, but I know I felt like I wanted to add a little wine to the sauce thinking that's what it was.

My birthday sucks already. :o( I hope someone brings cake.

Joe's Spaghetti Bolognese
serves 4-5
1 half of a medium/large white onion, finely chopped
1 half of a shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, smashed
8 oz of sliced mushrooms
1 lb ground beef (80/20 or 85/15 - you need some fat)
Mild Italian sausages - enough for each person to have one (I also used some of those Aidell's sundried tomato ones)
1 jar of Ralphs/Cala Foods tomato basil pasta sauce
pasta of your choice
olive oil
1-2 tbsp butter
salt & pepper
dried basil
oregano
4-5 bay leaves
Italian seasoning
red pepper flakes
Parmesan cheese

Put a tbsp of olive oil into a large saute pan over med-hi. Add the butter and let melt.
Toss in the clove of garlic, the shallots, and about half to 2/3 of the onion and saute for a minute. Add mushrooms and saute just til the mushies get some color and start to soften. Pour the onion/mushie mixture into a bowl and set aside.

In the same pan, add a teeny bit more oil (only if necessary to prevent sticking), and add the ground beef and remaining raw onion. Cook until browned and then pour off fat.
While meat is cooking in one pan, cook the sausages in another pan. Add a little oil so they don't stick, and sprinkle them with some Italian seasoning.

Add the jar of pasta sauce to the drained meat and stir the onion/mushie mixture back in. Toss in a tbsp or so of dried basil, a few dashes of red pepper flakes (you don't want it SPICY per se, just with a little bit of an undertone from the peppers), some oregano (1 - 2 tsps maybe?), and the bay leaves, and give it a good stir.
If the sausages are done, nestle them into the sauce as well, if not, you can do so once they are ready.

Let the sauce come to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover. Let simmer for 45 minutes or so; stirring a couple of times.

With 15 or so minutes left, get your pasta going.

Drain pasta, serve, and top with a generous portion of pasta sauce and a sausage. Top with a sprinkling of cheese.

Cry because of some undetermined depth of flavor that is missing that makes it not quite Joe's.
No wait, you don't even know what you're missing, so just enjoy it. I'll cry.

The clever gang over at Chowhound has plenty of nommy sounding suggestions too.

Lasagna

I love lasagna. Not like Garfield loves lasagna, but I do love it. It says family to me - it's sort of an ongoing joke that at any Romo family gathering there will be a big old tray of Stouffer's lasagna. This (and grandma's spaghetti sauce) are why I plan our Mexican-Irish family dinner at an Italian restaurant every year. Whenever I'm missing my grandma it means one of three dinners will be on the table soon: lasagna, stew, or spaghetti with meat sauce. We'll get into her orange Jell-O salad later.
In any case, I've been home sick the majority of the week, and we all know that means nonstop HGTV and Food Network (since it doesn't really matter when I fall asleep and miss half of or perhaps three shows). Drawback being that I don't really have any food in the house and this is somewhat torturous. Yesterday and today featured lasagna and now I'm confident I'll have to make it next week. Give me a shout if you want to come over.
I think whenever I've made lasagna in the past I've used the recipe from the BH&G cookbook my dad got me.
Following are three recipes: the BH&G version, Ina Garten's Portobello mushroom lasagna, and finally Robin Miller's version, only because I love that she made a ton of ground beef and used it for lasagna one night, tacos another, and sloppy joes another. How easy is it to cook up a bunch of meat on a Sunday, have a delicious lasagna that night and leftovers for lunch during the week, then spend 15 minutes or so making tacos or joes?!

BH&G LASAGNA
3/4 lb of your favorite ground meat (chicken, turkey, sausage, pork, beef)
1 c chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of diced tomatoes (7 1/2 oz)
1 8 0z can tomato sauce
1 6 0z can tomato paste
2 tsp dried basil, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
(optional 1 tsp crushed fennel seed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 lasagna noodles (5 oz)
1 beaten egg
2 c ricotta cheese
1/2 c grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
8 oz of mozzarella (slice it if it's not already sliced)

Of course I typically use lowfat cheeses and chicken or turkey meat when I make this, but go with what you like.

Put the pasta water on to boil.
SAUCE - heat a small amount of olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic, cooking til fragrant. Add the meat and cook until it's well browned and drain off any fat. Stir in the tomatoes (undrained!), tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, (fennel if you're using it) and s&p. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occassionally.
NOODLES - while the sauce is simmering, cook the noodles according to package directions (I pull them when they're still pretty al dente so they don't get too mushy) and drain.
**note: you don't want the noodles to sit around after they've been cooked and drained or they go all stiff and weird**
FILLING - Again, while sauce is simmering, and noodles are cooking, combine egg, ricotta, 1/4 c of the grated cheese and the parsley flakes.
ASSEMBLY - In a 12 x 7 1/2 x 2" baking dish, add a small amount of sauce in the bottom. Lay half of the cooked noodles in, trimming if necessary. Spread with half of the cheese filling and top that with half of the meat sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers sprinkling the remaining grated cheese on top.
BAKE - 375 for 30-35 minutes til heated through. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

This can be made ahead of time; just stop before baking. Cover with plastic wrap for up to 24 hours. When ready to bake, remove the plastic, cover with foil and bake in a 375 oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and cook an additional 20 minutes or til heated through.


BAREFOOT CONTESSA'S PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM LASAGNA
Kosher salt
good olive oil
3/4 lb dried lasagna noodles
4 cups whole milk (I bet I'd use low or nonfat)
12 tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup AP flour
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 lbs portobello mushrooms
1 c freshly ground Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 375.
SAUCE - bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Set aside. Melt one stick of butter (8 tbsp) in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tbsp salt, the pepper & nutmeg, and cook over medium-low, stirring first with the wooden spoon and then a whisk, for 3-5 minutes til thick. Set aside off heat.
Separate mushroom stems from caps and discard the stems. Slice the caps 1/4" thick. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter in a 12" saute pan. When the butter melts, add half the mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes til they are tender and release some of their juices. Toss occassionally to make sure they are cooking evenly. Repeat with remaining mushrooms and set aside.
NOODLES - while preparing the sauce, cook the noodles, drain and set aside.
ASSEMBLY - spread some sauce in the bottom of an 8 x 12 x 2" dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 c of the Parmesan. Repeat layers two more times. Final layer should be noodles, sauce and remaining Parmesan.
BAKE - at 375 for 45 minutes or til top is browned and sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit 15 minutes before serving.

And because a) this post is damn long enough, and b) you can use the same basic idea to do this your own without following these exact recipes, (and maybe c), I've only made one of her recipes and I'm not quite comfortable vouching for the fact that all of her stuff turns out well with only one try under my belt) I'm only posting links to Robin's.
Lasagna
Tacos
Sloppy Joes