The colder nights have me craving a big bowl of pasta or soup. The days have been in the high 60’s here, which makes both hard for me to wrap my head around! I decided to start off easy with a veggie loaded bolognese pasta, but be on the lookout for soups coming soon. This pasta is hearty and filling with its creamy sauce. The rigatoni catches all the chunks of meat and vegetables inside, and makes for the perfect bite every time.

Bolognese Sauce

• olive oil
• 2 ounces pancetta, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 2 inner celery stalks, thinly sliced
• 2 medium shallots, finely sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, grated
• salt
• 28-oz can of San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb dried rigatoni
• Parmigiano-Reggiano, shredded, for topping

For the sauce: heat the olive oil and cook pancetta until slightly brown. Add celery, carrot, shallot, garlic, salt, and a little sugar. Cook until the shallots are translucent, and add the tomatoes with their juices. This will simmer for about 15 minutes, which allows you to break the tomatoes up into smaller pieces.

While the tomatoes are simmering, cook the beef with salt until browned. Then add your red pepper flakes and white wine. Simmer until the wine has cooked out. Add to the tomato sauce, along with the heavy cream. Everything can hang out together until the pasta has been cooked and some pasta water saved.

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When pasta is cooked, add to the pasta sauce, coating well. Add pasta water if the sauce is too dry or thick. Sprinkle with cheese and you’re done!