An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

by Tamar Adler

If you’re buying humanely raised meat, ground meat may cost as much as steaks and chops from animals raised more dubiously. So you must stretch it over more meals, just as you do any other cuts. One of the best ways to do that is to make Bolognese sauce. Sauce distributes goodness. It also gives you an opportunity to add butter, or luxurious dried mushrooms, or cream, or anything else you want to add to make your investment pay off. This sauce has all of those, which makes it opulent without being expensive. It is the best thing I can think of to make with ground meat. It is delicious on pasta or polenta. This is a version of a recipe adapted by Amanda Hesser from one by Heidi da Emploi. White Bolognese 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 1/8 cup finely chopped carrot 1 stalk celery, finely chopped olive oil salt 1 pound Italian pork sausage, removed from its casings, or ground pork plus 1 teaspoon chile flakes and 3 leaves fresh sage, finely sliced 1 pound ground beef 11/2 cups white wine 2 cups beef or chicken stock 11/2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms rehydrated in 3 cups warm water 1/3 cup heavy cream 1 pound rigatoni or another short noodle or 1 cup polenta 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Cook the onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil until tender, salting them as soon as you add them to the pan. Add the sausage and beef, break it up, and brown it well. Add the wine and simmer until the pan is almost dry. Add the stock and simmer, uncovered, until the stock is nearly ...