Looking for a variation on the Bolognese theme, Massimo Bottura's Masterclass reveals the secret of the flagship dish at his three Michelin starred restaurant in Modena, Osteria Francescana.
Having used Marcella Hazan's Bolognese recipe for decades now, I was up for a challenge. I may have bitten off a bit more than I could chew.....well, not literally. You have to try everything at least once right? So off I went to source beef cheeks, Italian sausage and oxtail. The former I found at Saks (yes of the 5th Avenue kind) and the rest from a local farm shop. I drew the line at tongue and bone marrow! What all the meats have in common is a very high gelatinous content.
Thinking the two hour cooking time called out in the recipe was sufficient I embarked upon the project at about 5pm for an 8pm dinner time. Clearly, after two hours the cheek and oxtail were nowhere near falling apart or off the bone, so Plan B was Bucatini All'Amatriciana for dinner!
I continued to simmer the pot until 11pm, but the meat was too hot to take off the bone, so in the fridge it went.
Cut to day two...out of the fridge, warmed up, loads of fat siphoned off the top! Oxtail now falling off the bone but minutely tricky to separate the meat from the skin and cartilage. Luckily the beef check was easy to shred. All cut up into small cubes, sorta, and continuing to simmer for a few more hours. Trouble is it's Monday now and we try to go mostly vegetarian during the week. No worries, it'll only improve resting for a few days in the fridge, right? We'll see how long that lasts. Maybe now that I have the time I'll make some homemade tagliatelle.
After simmering for about 8 hrs!
Separating the fat from the sausage before putting in the pot
Searing the beef check and oxtail and deglazing the pan with white wine
After adding the tomato paste and chicken stock
cover the lot with parchment paper and simmer for many, many , many hours
