Dinner at Patrick and Katelynn's. A ragu to cure any pasta craving.
My friend Patrick Smith is bringing Chef Lorenzo Boni's father’s legendary rigatoni Bolognese to life! 🍝✨ This rich, slow-simmered sauce is straight from the heart of Italy.
This RIGATONI BOLOGNESE was so good. I’ve had the pleasure of dining with Patrick and Katelynn two times recently and always really enjoy myself . This time Patrick whipped up a rigatoni from his friend Chef Lorenzo Boni for Katelynn, Hunter, and me. The recipe is Lorenzo’s father’s. Patrick also made a homemade ciabatta loaf for each of us. I’m trying to think of how best to show you how he does his breads. All of which are simple and whipped up within 3 hours! He works on the bread in between painting throughout the day and then returns to his work. They have fresh bread daily for dinner. We ate the ciabatta with some pate. Pate has never been so good!
I think it's fascinating, because Patrick is similar to me in the fact that he is a painter, a realist painter, but breaks up what can be very tedious work through the creativity and release of cooking. I asked him, “ I had a different question, which is how you think cooking on the in between of your painting in the day influence your creativity and then dinner . For the breaks and return to it throughout the day? Because I feel I do similar when I work?”
Looking at Patrick’s paintings after dinner and some wine^ .
His answer to my question was, “Hmm, Cooking is way easier than painting. It’s fun to have projects that can be begun and finished in a few hours. I really enjoy cooking.” I’m very much the same way. I like to work on my sugar flowers and shut my brain off of the hard stuff for a while, while I get into the flow of making a simple satisfying dinner. OR a cocktail.
Patrick’s favorite red box rigatoni. He said it is the best ever.
RIGATONI BOLOGNESE
INGREDIENTS
24 Servings
3 ea celery stalks
3 ea carrots
1½ onions
12 oz pancetta
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ lbs ground beef
1½ lbs ground pork
1½ cups dry white wine
1 cup tomato paste
9 cups water
1½ cups Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
PREPARATION
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Cook the pasta for 6 minutes, drain, and toss with some oil. Place onto a sheet tray then into the fridge to cool down.
2. In a robot coupe, process the vegetables and pancetta until they are finely ground.
3. Add the ingredients to a medium sized pot with the olive oil and cook for 10 minutes over medium heat.
4. Add the meat and brown well, about 15 minutes.
5. Deglaze with the white wine; evaporate completely then cover with water. Add the tomato paste and bring the sauce to a simmer.
6. Cook for approximately 2 hours. The sauce should be thick and the meat should be very tender.
7. For service, bring a large pot of water to a boil and heat the Bolognese in a large rondo.
8. Blanch the pasta in the boiling salted water for 1 minute then combine with the sauce.
9. Garnish with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Enjoy!
Alex