Orecchiette Alla Bolognese

Each style of pasta has a descriptive name AND a purpose. Believe it or not, not all pasta should be called a generic "noodle". Italians didn't invent pasta, but we sure perfected it and it's function in our everyday cousine. And I mean EVERY DAY! We eat it for lunch and dinner, every single day :) Orecchiette literally means "little ears" and DeCecco (one of the top two pasta brands in Italy) makes them. Places like Sheridan's Market in Portland, sells them. The "geometry" if this pasta allows for a perfect scoop, that way, thicker more dense sauces are perfect in every bite. It's science! HAHA! 

Remember that a dish will only be as delicious and wholesome as the ingredients that you chose to use! Please make sure you shop at your local organic/natural grocery store or market, so that all ingredients are fresh and clean and delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

For 2 people

• 500 grams of DeCecco Orecchiette (or Rigatoni works great too!)
• 1/2 pound of great quality, low fat content, ground beef (grass fed would be perfect!)
• 4 juicy, large, fresh tomatoes (heirloom tomatoes are perfect for this dish! Nice and sweet too!)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1/2 medium white onion
• 1 small garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (make sure it's very flavorful and fragrant! High quality is best)
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt for the boiling water
• Salt and pepper to taste for the sauce itself
• Optional: 1 cup of black olives (not Kalamata! Those are much too strong/too Greek for this dish... HA!)

RECIPE:

• Put water to boil for the pasta
• Drop the coarse salt into the water once it boils (cover the pot so that the water doesn't evaporate, since you'll be dropping pasta in it a bit later on in the process)

• Chop up garlic and onion to a nice and even fine chop
• Sautee in medium/hot olive oil until onions are translucent on a 12" non-stick pan (make sure it has a lid because you'll need to cover it later on...)
• Add the ground beef, a small pinch of salt and the nutmeg and sautee until half cooked, evenly

• Cut the big, juicy tomatoes to squeeze the juice out into the hot garlic/onion mixture (press them with a hand cranked tomato press, or use your hands. Make sure all of the juice is squeezed out and discard the hard parts that remain. We just want the redness of the juice with no pieces of tomato)

• Add the tomato paste and evenly spread it around so that it "melts" and combines with the rest

• It's time to drop the pasta and cook to al dente (don't overcook it OMG!)

• Once it's all been incorporated together, cover the pan and let it sautee itself on medium/low heat for 10 minutes or so (Check it to make sure it's not drying up too much. If you see that you need more juice, simply add one cup of hot water at a time. Don't allow anything to stick to the pan, 'cause it will burn and it will end up tasting funky...)

• After 10 minutes or so of this medium/low heat simmering, add the heavy whipping cream and another small pinch of salt, and combine all of the ingredients evenly (this is when you can drop the black olives in, too, if you want them in there). The sauce should not be runny and it should have a pinkish hue

• At this point, the Orecchiette should be al dente and the Bolognese should be ready too
• Strain the pasta from it's boiling water and then drop the pasta into the Bolognese sauce pan on high heat
• Flip the pasta in the air (or use a spatula ;) so that it all gets coated evenly. You'll hear loud sizzling... it's OK! It's the sound of deliciousness!

• Scoop the portions into a deep pasta place, crack some black pepper to taste, and MANGIA!