Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

We’ve been to Italy twice but never during Carnivale. Ahh! What I wouldn’t do to participate in this grand winter festival.

In Italy, Carnivale aka Mardi Gras, comes complete with masquerade balls, romping music, colorful parades and delicious food. Lots and lots of delicious food. There are even places, like Venice for example, where festivities begin weeks before. They start the party early and keep it stoked until the last bit of confetti is swept and elaborate masks are securely tucked away in anticipation of next year’s celebration.

In keeping with the Carnivale theme, Redpack Tomatoes is celebrating with a wonderful promotion which runs through March 4th. Every week, 1000 Redpack followers will get a tote bag and one lucky grand prize winner will receive a pasta stock pot, pasta related serveware and Redpack products. The total value of the prize is worth $350. I’m excited to be teaming up with Redpack to share the fun news about “Redpack Carnivale”, as well as to highlight a couple of their products in today’s recipe for Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce.

I had the idea to make sauce mostly because we were craving it. Speaking of sauce – do you guys call it sauce or gravy? Curious minds want to know… Back to what I was saying – sauce – yes, but it couldn’t be just any sauce. It needed to be special. I wanted to heighten the complexity of its flavor as well as its texture with ingredients like crispy pancetta and dry red wine.

Bolognese was born.

Well, not born, it was actually born centuries ago, just outside Bologna, Italy,  in what I imagine to be a perfectly-appointed Italian kitchen for its time. With braids of garlic hanging from the mantle of its wood-burning stove complete with yellow and blue ceramic plates propped on its hearth, where kettles and large pots bubble away and wooden spoons are strewn about this beautiful little villa where blush colored rose bushes and magnificent cypress trees line the stone drive.

Let’s start again…my take on bolognese was born.

So the thing about a bolognese sauce…a meatier sauce…is it needs a sturdier pasta to match its beefier brawn.

Enter pappardelle. This large, very broad flat noodle provides bolognese the surface it needs to create a balanced dish.

With this, the pasta doesn’t get lost and the sauce doesn’t overpower.

Balance.

This meaty sauce with its hint of wine takes wintertime comfort food to a whole new level.

We could use that right about now.

Buon Appetito!

Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews

• Author: Ciao Chow Bambina
• Category: Dinner

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 3 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 oz. chopped pancetta
• 12 oz. ground beef
• 28 oz. Redpack Crushed Tomatoes
• 28 oz. Redpack Diced Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 lb. Pappardelle
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add carrots and onion and sauté until soft.
3. Add pancetta and garlic, sauté until meat is crisp.
4. Add beef and cook until completely browned through.
5. Add tomatoes, wine, fresh herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and cook until sauce thickens.
6. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, until firm to the bite (al dente).
7. Drain pasta and add sauce.
8. Toss well to coat.
9. Top with fresh Parmigianno-Reggiano.
10. Serve immediately.

---

Ciao!