pasta bolognese

This weekend the GS went to Chicago and therefore I became even more of a recluse than usual.

I spent 8 hours at school on Saturday, went to bed at 10:00, and finished a book on my Kindle. It was The Bone Season, by the way, which is supposedly the new Hunger Games. But I would say that Paige Mahoney is no Katniss Everdeen.

On Sunday I was cooped up in my basement for most of the day working on my latest quilting project for my aunt.

Speaking of sewing GUESS WHAT (shameless plug) I’m on Etsy now with my circle scarves! Kelly really wanted to be my neck model but I got impatient waiting for her to get home from work. So don’t judge my photos, they don’t count as selfies because my face isn’t in them. I would like to start doing clothes and stuff on there too but we’ll see how the scarves go first.

Another highlight of the weekend was eating a gigantic bowl of peas for dinner both nights because I was too lazy and tired to cook.

I got to go to Wegmans again yesterday (seriously spoiling myself) and decided to make a hearty pasta dish for this chilly weather.

I read like 5 recipes for pasta bolognese and just pulled the highlights from each (Anne Burrell, Mario Batali, and Pioneer Woman) to make my own hybrid recipe.

Pasta Bolognese

2 carrots, grated

3 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 medium sweet onion, finely chopped

1 lb lean ground beef (I used 90/10)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup tomato paste

roughly 2 tsp each dried oregano and dried basil

1 cup white wine

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

dash of Worcestershire sauce

olive oil, salt, pepper

1 lb any pasta (I used linguine)

parmesan cheese

Pour 3-4 tbs of olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the onion, celery and carrot (with a big pinch of salt) for about 10 minutes or until they’re really soft and translucent.

Add the meat and cook until browned. Add the tomato paste, garlic, oregano, and basil and stir together. Add the wine (you can use red if you want to) and let it cook down for 3-4 minutes, then add the Worcestershire sauce and crushed tomatoes. Allow it to simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 30-40 minutes.