Bobby Flay Pasta Bolognese is a rich Italian dinner made with bacon, ground chuck and pork simmered into a tomato sauce over fresh fettuccine. Because the sauce makes enough for two meals, this comfort food recipe suits Sunday dinner, date night, holidays or a big family gathering.
Render the bacon slowly over medium heat for the full eight to ten minutes, because rushing leaves the fat unrendered. That rendered fat is what the chuck and pork brown in, so the sauce loses its backbone if you hurry.
This version seasons the meat itself with ground fennel and Calabrian chile flakes rather than leaving all the flavor to the sauce. Rosé wine and a whole fennel bulb go into the soffritto too, which is why it tastes lighter than a long simmered ragù.
Bobby Flay Pasta Bolognese
Course: DinnerCuisine: American, ItalianDifficulty: Easy4
servings50
minutes1
hour40
minutes1145
kcalHomemade fettuccine rests while bacon renders and ground chuck and pork brown in the fat with fennel and chile. A soffritto of celery, fennel, onion and carrot builds the sauce with rosé and plum tomatoes, finished with creme fraiche.
Ingredients
- For the Pasta Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 large eggs plus 1 yolk
- For the Meat:
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces bacon, diced
1½ pounds ground chuck (80/20)
½ pound ground pork (80/20)
1 teaspoon ground dried fennel
¼ teaspoon Calabrian chile flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the Quick Bolognese Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium stalk celery, finely diced
1 small bulb fennel, finely diced
1 medium red onion, finely diced
½ medium carrot, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste or finely grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground dried fennel
1 cup rosé wine
1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
- For the Garlic Bread:
1 loaf ciabatta, sliced lengthwise
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- To Serve:
¼ cup creme fraiche
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Directions
- Make the pasta dough:Combine the flour, eggs and yolk in a food processor and pulse until a dough comes together. Knead gently on a floured counter until smooth, about 1 minute. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Laminate the dough:Divide into 4 pieces. Flatten one into a ½-inch-thick rectangle, dust with flour and pass through the widest setting. Fold in thirds like a letter and pass through again with the seam perpendicular to the rollers. Repeat 10 to 12 times.
- Roll and cut:Without folding, pass the dough through progressively narrower settings, dusting each time, until about 1/16 inch thick and 3 inches wide. Cut into 11-inch lengths, then cut into fettuccine. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Render the bacon:Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook slowly until the fat renders and the bacon crisps, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels.
- Brown the meat:Increase the heat to high, add the chuck and pork and season with the fennel, chile flakes, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Drain the excess fat.
- Build the soffritto:Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high until shimmering. Add the celery, fennel, onion and carrot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, then the tomato paste and ground fennel for 1 minute more.
- Simmer the sauce:Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and cook until the tomatoes soften, about 10 minutes. Mash coarsely, season, and cook until it boils and begins to thicken, about 15 minutes. Add the bacon, chuck and pork and cook until thick, about 15 minutes more. Fold in the parsley and oregano and season.
- Make the garlic bread:Preheat the broiler. Place the ciabatta cut side up on a baking sheet and broil until lightly golden. Combine the butter, garlic, salt and pepper, slather it over the bread and broil until bubbly and golden, about 2 minutes. Cool briefly and slice.
- Finish and serve: Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente, about 4 minutes. Reserve a cup of pasta water and drain. Put about 2 cups of sauce in a large sauté pan over high heat, add the pasta, creme fraiche, some pasta water and a few handfuls of Parmigiano-Reggiano. Toss, top with parsley and serve. Reserve the remaining sauce for another use.
FAQs
Why chill the pasta dough before rolling it?
Thirty minutes lets the flour fully absorb the egg, which stops the dough from tearing as it thins. Resting also relaxes the gluten you built while kneading, so the sheets stop springing back on the rollers. You can hold the wrapped dough for a full day, which makes this the obvious step to do ahead of time.
Why fold and re-roll the dough 10 to 12 times?
Each fold and pass lines the gluten strands up in one direction, which gives the finished noodles their bite. This is laminating rather than thinning the dough, so the widest setting stays in place for the whole process. Turn the folded seam perpendicular to the rollers each time, because that is what squares the sheet up.
What can you use instead of rosé wine?
Dry white wine is the closest swap, though you lose a little of the fruit that the rosé brings. A light red like Barbera works too, and it pushes the sauce toward a more traditional ragù flavor. Skipping wine entirely means adding a splash of red wine vinegar, since the acid is doing real work here.
Why stir creme fraiche in at the end?
The fat rounds off the acidity of the tomatoes and coats the noodles the way butter does. Creme fraiche holds up to heat far better than sour cream, which splits the moment it hits a hot pan. Heavy cream works as a substitute, though the sauce loses the gentle tang that balances all the pork fat.
What should you do with the leftover sauce?
The recipe yields roughly four times what the pasta takes, so plan on three more meals from one batch. It keeps four days refrigerated and three months frozen, and the flavor improves noticeably after a night. Use it for lasagna, baked ziti or spooned over polenta, since it is thick enough for all three.
