In the Kitchen With Mattie

It was so hot out today and hubby and I had a lot of running around to do. When we got home we were both wiped out from having to deal with all the heat outside and the last thing on my mind was dinner. After we got ourselves a cool drink and started to recover from all that heat outside I finally did begin to wonder what I could make that was relatively quick and not too labor intensive. Seeing as yesterday I had done all those nice tomatoes and reduced them down to pulp I had the bright idea to make a very quick and simple bolognese sauce and have it with some pasta. My bolognese usually takes me a few hours to prepare but this one tonight was done in under an hour and was nice, it will get more flavor after it sits in the fridge for another day or so.

                                    Quick Bolognese

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef

1 stalk celery washed and trimmed

1 carrot peeled and washed

1 small onion, peeled and quartered

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper plus 1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup dry red wine

4-5  cups tomato pulp

1/2 teaspoon oregano if fresh, 1 full teaspoon if using dry

Place the onion, carrot and the celery into a food processor and grind them to almost a paste. Add the oil to a hot pan and when the oil is hot add the vegetable paste and the garlic, salt and pepper. Sweat and saute the vegetables until they begin to brown, when they are browned start crumbling the meat into the pot, stir occasionally until the meat is no longer pink, add the wine and cook until it evaporates. Add the tomato pulp and the oregano and mix well, lower the heat and simmer until the sauce thickens, taste and add salt if needed. Serve over your favorite pasta.