Oretta's Paccheri Bolognese

20 mins Prep Time

3 hours 0 mins Cook Time

Written By

Robin Winship

Make Oretta's rich and decadent bolognese sauce in the comfort of your own home! The restaurant uses paccheri noodles but feel free to use your pasta shape of choice. The sauce goes well with a fresh tagliatelle noodle or even a pillowy gnocchi.

If you give this recipe a shot, make sure to post up your creation on Instagram and tag @tastetoronto and @orettatoronto!

Ingredients

Paccheri Bolognese

850g paccheri pasta
2 lbs ground veal
2 small garlic cloves, smashed
1 cup carrot, finely diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
2 cups Spanish onion, finely diced
1/2 cup tomato paste
175 mL white wine
65 oz whole Italian-style tomatoes (canned), blitz until smooth
250 mL olive oil
Parmesan or Grana Padano, grated (optional)
2 tbsp butter (optional)

Directions

Paccheri Bolognese

10 Steps

Step 1

Begin by seasoning the ground veal with salt.
Step 2

In a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat, sear the ground veal until golden brown. Transfer the veal to a dish on the side, reserving the juices.
Step 3

In the same pot, now empty, add the rest of the olive oil and crushed garlic.
Step 4

Once garlic is lightly browned, over medium heat, add in mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot), season with salt and gently sweat with a lid on until soft and translucent (about 20-30 minutes).
Step 5

Once mirepoix is soft, turn up the heat slightly, and add in the seared meat until all of the water content has evaporated, rendering out all of its fat and concentrating the flavour. You are essentially braising the meat in its own juices until all of the liquid is gone (30-40 minutes).
Step 6

Once all of the water content has evaporated and you are left with only rendered fat, add in the tomato paste and cook out until paste turns a brick red shade (10 minutes).
Step 7

Add in wine and boil out the alcohol, but don’t reduce too much. You want the natural acidity in the wine to shine through the flavour of the bolognese (5 minutes).
Step 8

Add in tomato, season with salt to taste and cook down until sweet and flavours come together (1 to 1.5 hours).
Step 9

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, cook pasta according to instructions on package, usually 1-2 minutes less than package instructs for al dente.
Step 10

Transfer pasta to sauce, with a small amount of pasta water. You can add a nob of butter and Parmesan cheese or Grana Padano for additional richness. Stir until sauce binds to pasta, adjusting with more cheese or pasta water for right consistency. Serve!