What's for Dinner? Pasta alla Bolognese

The original recipe calls for ground pork and veal, but we don't eat veal and I didn't have pork pre-ground. My mom gave me a beautiful old meat grinder so I used that for the pork loin. This was amazing!

If you like a lot of sauce, as I do, add plenty of pasta cooking water to the sauce before tossing with the pasta.

olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 handful baby carrots, roughly chopped
1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, rough chopped
1/2 lb pork loin chops, hand ground
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup half and half
fresh parsley
pinch each: ground allspice, ground cloves, crumbled dried thyme
3 cups (12 oz) pasta (I used rotini)

Heat a large Dutch oven drizzled with a little olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot; cook 5-10 minutes or til veggies soften. Add chicken and pork, salt and pepper and cook til meat is golden brown. Increase heat to high and stir in wine. Cook til mixture reduces, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in half and half and spices; bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer on low 1-2 hours or til thick and meat is very tender, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package. Drain and return hot pasta to cook pot. Stir in about 1 cup sauce.

Serve topped with additional sauce.

I also baked up a loaf of rustic wheat to go with dinner.

Absolutely first rate!

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine