Mushroom Bolognese

Total Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 medium celery ribs, diced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• sea salt or kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 lb mushroom (it can be any mushrooms you want, chopped)
• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth or 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce or 1 (15 ounce) can puree
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

Recipe

• 1 soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 1 cup of very warm water and let sit for 20 minutes. strain through a cheesecloth or a coffee filter and keep the liquid. do not use a metal mesh strainer for this step - it is not fine enough. chop the mushrooms.
• 2 saute the onion, carrot and celery in a large pot in the olive oil with a big pinch of kosher or sea salt and a few grindings of pepper. let the vegetables cook for about 8 minutes, on low heat. add the garlic and cook for one minute. increase heat and add the wine. cook for 5 minutes, making sure the wine is simmering. add the mushrooms.
• 3 add the rest of the ingredients, including the reserved porcini mushroom liquid. simmer, uncovered, for about an hour to an hour and a half, until the sauce has reduced down and a lot of the liquid has cooked off - cook until you like the thickness of the sauce. taste for salt and adjust seasoning.
• 4 this recipe will be more than enough to coat a pound of pasta. if you don't use all the sauce, it's great the next day or you can freeze it.