The first time I had this dish was in the Dolomites, made by a nonna who was originally from Emilia-Romagna (the region home to Bologna). I was totally blown away by how rich and delicious it was… and that it had no tomato!

Serves: 6 hearty mains or 8+ entrees 

Ingredients

• 500 g organic beef or veal mince
• 500 g free range pork mince
• 1 organic onion
• 1 organic carrot
• 2-3 sticks of organic celery
• 500ml good quality (Hey Tomorrow) white wine
• Bay leaves
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Milk
• High quality fresh pasta of choice (tagliatelle, pappardelle, rigatoni or even paccheri works best)
• Good quality parmesan

Method

Finely chop the onion, celery and carrot (throw some garlic in too if you like!) This base mixture is called soffritto in Italy.

Heat a heavy based frying pan with a good glug of olive oil and fry off your soffritto until it starts to soften.

Mix the minced meat together with salt to taste, then add it to the soffritto and begin to brown. You’ll need to stir regularly, breaking up the mince as you go – a solid whisk works well here.

Once the meat is browned hit it with a good splash of milk and reduce. Then add the wine and reduce again.

Add the bay leaves and enough water to at least cover the mix, cover the pan and simmer for as long as you like, stirring occasionally. I usually go for around three hours, checking and adding water if it looks like it needs it. Once ready, remove the cover and reduce till you get a consistency you like.

Cook your pasta in well salted water then drain it, reserving some of the cooking water. Add the pasta to your pan of sauce with some cooking water and a good glug of olive oil (butter would also work here too) and combine well, reducing until you have a delicious creamy and shiny consistency.

Serve with plenty of real grated parmesan and wash down with several liberal splashes of Hey Tomorrow & Syrahmi 2020 Syrah. Buon appetito!

Recipe: Greg Patten