Get Ready For The Paparazzi - It's Oscar Time! It's Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce Time!

Ah, Cardiff Seaside Market! How Colonel Mustard and I miss you! And VG Donuts. Was it only a week ago? Picked up lovely Bob's Red Mill cannellini beans and terrific pappardelle whilst there. And those donuts! And monkey bread! Extra workouts for those sins.

Sunday is Oscar Day! Neil Patrick Harris will do a great job hosting, I think. He is very talented. I much enjoyed his rendition of Sugar Daddy from Hedwig And The Angry Inch at the Tonys, although that production did a punk rock version of what was originally a more soft rock/Country-ish version.  It's a carwash, ladies and gentlemen! I'll be your Venus on a chocolate clamshell, rising from a sea of marshmallow foam. Boy can sing!

That is probably my favorite song from that quirky musical. Another favorite is Wig In A Box. On nights like this, when the world's a bit amiss...I put on some makeup, some LaVerne Baker....

Yours truly is a big fan of the golden age of musicals, and can't really abide the Andrew Lloyd Webber era, but I make a modern musical exception for Hedwig, Little Shop of Horrors and Sondheim. Love, love, love Sweeney Todd. Ok, a little pause to appreciate Hedwig:

Sugar Daddy:

Wig: At the 3:00 minute mark, sharp eyes for the yellow portable Panasonic 8 track player that is exactly what I had at that time in time! First 8 track purchase: Book of Dreams.

None of this has anything to do with Bolognese sauce. But I wanted a nice, steaming dish of meaty comfort food for the Big Night of gown watching and speech-snooozing.

Of the films nominated for the big prize, I have only seen four: The Theory of Everything, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Selma, and The Imitation Game. I believe it's a long shot, but would love to see The Imitation Game win. TIG is now the best film the Colonel and I have seen. Ah, distant, troubled and brilliant mathematicians. Can't get enough.

Bolognese is a great, meaty sauce. I kick up this Williams Sonoma recipe by adding ground veal to the ground beef, ground pork and pancetta that lend great flavor to this classic Italian sauce. I tossed it with wide pasta noodles known as pappardelle from the Seaside Market in Cardiff. Be sure to cook the pasta until it’s just al dente in lots of salted water—tender but still a bit chewy. You won’t need all of the sauce for this dish; freeze the rest to serve again with pasta or to use in lasagna. Or just eat with your hands, standing in front of the fridge at 2 AM in the morning, which is my current post-Oscars plan. Only at an earlier time.

I served it with a simple arugula salad and garlic bread.

Mangia!

Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

Adapted from Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

3/4 lb. ground beef

3/4 lb. ground pork
3/4 lb. ground veal

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 oz. pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice

1 yellow onion, finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup milk

2 cans whole tomatoes, passed through a

  food mill, or just crushed with your clean hands as you add them

2 bay leaves

1 Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind (think of it as cheese bones)

1 lb. pappardelle, cooked until al dente and drained

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions:

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the ground beef and pork, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Add the pancetta to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until almost evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the ground meats, pancetta, milk, tomatoes, bay leaves and cheese rind. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Cover partially, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves and cheese rind.

Toss the pasta with about 3 cups of the sauce (reserve the remaining sauce for another use). Sprinkle cheese on top. Serve immediately and pass additional cheese alongside. Serves 4 to 6.