Spaghetti à la Bolognese

"Bolognese sauce is one of those recipes that transcends its particular cuisine: I remember preparing it at the Plaza-Athénée in Paris in the 1950s. Recipes for different versions abound. My wife, who loves spaghetti Bolognese, makes hers with beef, pork, and veal. The most common version is made with beef only, but in this recipe, I use half Italian sausage and half ground beef.

"It is sometimes difficult to combine the meat with the other ingredients without lumps forming. To prevent this, I put the meat in a bowl, add some chicken stock, and crush the meat into the stock with my fingers. As the meat gets wet, it becomes a smooth mixture without lumps. Then I add it to the pot with the remainder of the ingredients and proceed with the cooking. If you are serving a smaller group, just freeze the extra sauce for another time.

"I like to cook the spaghetti and season it apart from the Bolognese sauce, then serve it with the sauce on top." --Jacques Pépin

Recipe: Spaghetti à la Bolognese

Serves 8

Ingredients:

Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups diced (1/2-inch) onions
3/4 cup diced (1/2-inch) carrots
3/4 cup diced (1/2-inch) celery
3 tablespoons chopped crushed garlic
12 ounces bulk Italian sausage
12 ounces ground beef
2 cups homemade chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
One 28-ounce can plum tomatoes in puree
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons shredded fresh sage leaves
1 small serrano pepper, seeded and chopped, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pasta

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, preferably imported
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh chives

Instructions:

For the Sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the sausage and ground beef in a bowl, add 1 cup of the stock, and crush the meat with your hands to separate it. Put the tomatoes in another bowl and coarsely crush them with your hands.
Add the meat and stock mixture to the saucepan, along with the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients, including the remaining cup of stock. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook gently for 11/2 hours. (Makes 9 cups sauce.)

For the Pasta

When ready to cook the pasta, bring 6 quarts salted water to a boil in a large pot. Add the pasta to the water, stir well, and cook for about 9 minutes, until al dente (or to your liking).
Scoop out 1 1/2 cups of the pasta cooking liquid and drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot, add the reserved cooking water, the oil, salt, and pepper, and mix well.
Divide the pasta among eight warm plates and pour a good cup of the Bolognese sauce on top of each serving. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and chives and serve immediately.