Ground Veal Recipes

Veal Bolognese
Recipe courtesy of Diane Strauss

1. Soak the mushrooms in 1 c boiling water for 20 minutes until tender. Drain, reserving water to the side, and coarsely chop mushrooms.
2. Pre-heat large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or stock pot over medium heat. 
3. Add the olive oil and allow it to heat for a minute.  
4. Add the pancetta or bacon and sauté for 2 minutes.
5. Add the chopped porcinis, onion, celery, carrots, and garlic; stir to combine and sauté for a couple of minutes.
6. Toss in bay leaves and nutmeg.
7. Take sprigs of fresh herbs and tie together with kitchen twine.  Add tied herbs to pan. (Reserve fresh chopped basil and parsley for later.)  Sauté for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring as needed, until the vegetables are very tender but not browned.
8. Add the ground veal and sauté until nicely browned.  While sautéing, break up clumps of ground veal with wooden spoon or spatula to create finer texture. 
9. Add the milk and simmer until the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. (The acids in milk naturally tenderize the meat and give traditional Bolognese its fine texture.) 
10. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and optional glace de veau. 
11. Strain reserved mushroom water through cheese cloth or fine-mesh strainer and add to pot.
12. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat and cover. Slowly simmer over low heat for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the sauce is very thick and reduced.  Traditional Bolognese is not very saucy, but meat concentrated.
13. Add fresh chopped basil and parsley.
14. Taste again for salt and pepper and adjust if needed.
15. Your Bolognese is now ready to enjoy over fresh pasta, but there are many more ways you can use Bolognese to create other delicious recipes.  Please use these links to view the many ways you can use your Bolognese meat sauce/filling:

The Wonderful Ways to use Bolognese:

Bolognese Over Fresh Pasta: Bolognese is most frequently enjoyed over fresh pasta.  Tagliatelle, spaghetti or fettuccini pastas are most commonly used with Bolognese, but enjoy it with your favorites. Serve topped with freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese.

Bolognese Pasta Sauce Variations:
Bolognese is a wonderful base for creating further other pasta sauces. 

Pink Sauce:
Mix 1 part Bolognese with one part favorite marinara sauce and add a some cream.  Add as little or as much cream as desired. Stir over low heat until hot.  Season with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Easy ratio is to add about 1 cup of cream to one quart of meat sauce.  You can also add sautéed mushrooms and/or zucchini.

Vodka Sauce:
Use the above Pink Sauce.  Add 1/4 cup of vodka to pink sauce and heat through and simmer until alcohol has been cooked through.  Add pinch of cayenne pepper.

Alfredo Bolognese:
Use béchamel sauce as the base and add desired amount of Bolognese.  Season with grated parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.  All ratios of Bolognese to béchamel sauce are delicious, experiment to discover your favorite. Variations: add your favorite sautéed vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, onions

Risotto topped with Bolognese:
Top saffron risotto, mushroom risotto or other vegetable risotto with Bolognese.

Lasagna Bolognese:
Lasagna made with a Bolognese filling is a true Tuscan pleasure.  This is very easy to accomplish with the Bolognese that you have made.

Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles cooked “al dente” slightly firm
Bolognese
Bechemel sauce
Freshly grated mozerella cheese
Freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese

Method:

1. Take a baking dish and coat it with a small amount of olive oil to help prevent sticking.
2. Place one single layer of lasagna noodles along bottom. 

Spread Bolognese over noodles. 

1. Top Bolognese with béchamel sauce. 
2. Sprinkle béchamel lightly with grated mozzarella cheese.
3. Repeat with another layer of noodles and continue layering until pan is almost full.
4. End with a layer of lasagna noodles.
5. Top last layer of noodles with béchamel sauce topped with freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese.
6. Heat in 400° oven until bubbly and slightly browned on top. Remove from oven, let rest before cutting, to set and cool a bit before serving.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Shells:
Use pasta shells large enough for stuffing. Cook lightly until “al dente” (still slightly firm). Fill each shell with approximately 2 Tbs Bolognese and 1 Tbs Ricotta cheese filling (recipe follows):

Ingredients:
Bolognese Sauce
Large Pasta Shells – cooked “al dente”
1 c ricotta cheese
1/2 c of thawed, chopped and well-drained frozen spinach (squeeze out excess liquid)
1/4 c of freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 c of grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 Tsp of nutmeg
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Mix everything except salt and pepper in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Place stuffed shells in oven-proof baking dish.  Top with béchamel sauce or your favorite marinara sauce and freshly grated cheese.  Bake in 400° oven until hot.  Serve and enjoy.
3. Variation: Stuff peppers or zucchini with the mixture for a gluten-free veggie version.

Italian-Style Sloppy Joes:
Cut crusty Italian bread in half lengthwise and then into sandwich-sized sections.  Top bottom slice of bread with bolognese, add slice of mozzarella cheese, if desired; complete with top half of bread.  Garnish with spicey giardinera.

Cooking with
Celebrity Chefs

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