Pappardelle with Venison Bolognese
Venison bolognese is a rich, zesty sauce of ground venison, onion, celery, carrot, and seasonings all simmered on the stove until thick and rich. Toss this with pappardelle or your favorite pasta for a delicious weeknight meal.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bacon
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- ½ cup yellow onion, diced (about ½ an onion)
- ½ cup celery, diced (1 celery stalk)
- ½ cup carrot, diced (about 12 baby carrots)
- 8 ounces ground venison
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup half and half
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup venison broth or beef broth
- 1 15-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 8 ounces pappardelle pasta
- Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the bacon for about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon and set aside. To the Dutch oven, add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the bacon grease. Then add the mirepoix of onion, celery, carrots, and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring vegetables until onion becomes translucent.
- Add ground venison, minced garlic, another ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper. Crumble the meat with a wooden spoon, stir well and cook until the venison has lost its raw, red color, about 3 minutes.
- Crumble the reserved bacon and add it back to the Dutch oven with the half and half and let it simmer gently over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely, about 5 minutes. Add nutmeg and stir.
- Add the beef broth and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add the diced tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at a lazy simmer, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time.
- When the sauce has about 15 minutes left until done, bring a pot of water to a full boil. Salt boiling water and add the pappardelle pasta to pot, stirring to separate the noodles. Boil gently for 12 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness. Drain and discard the water.
- To the sauce add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and cooked drained pasta. Toss until pasta is well coated and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.
