Oh people, I hate to do this to you.  I really do.  I know that it’s just a few weeks after New Year’s and we are all still running with that whole resolution mentality … but I simply can’t wait to share this mind-blowing pasta sauce with you.  I know, it’s not very nice. In fact, it may be downright mean.  But if you are going to stray from those resolution for a minute (which, let’s face it, we all will at some point) let it be with this pasta sauce.  Trust me.  The indulgence is sooooo worth it.

Just to give you an idea of what this deceptively simple looking bolognese sauce is bringing to the table, I give you two words: Bacon. Fat.  Oh yea, I said it!  And oh mama, is that some good stuff!  Throw in some tomatoes, white wine, nutmeg, oh my!  The complexity and depth of flavors in this sauce is far beyond the time commitment involved. In my house it has been renamed The Best Pasta Sauce Ever Made.  Clearly, we aren’t terribly humble around these parts.

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People, I have to apologize in advance about this dish.  I have been making this bowl of deliciousness every week for the past month and it’s taken me this long to share it with you.  I’ve been a recipe hog.  If we were in kindergarten I’d be given a time-out for not sharing.  Don’t worry, my guilt over keeping this truly perfect weeknight fall/winter dinner recipe to myself is punishment enough.

I hope that after diving into a bowl of this warm, comforting Italian stew you will find it in your heart to forgive my selfishness. If that isn’t enough, hopefully after you discover that it takes literally 30 minutes to make this entire, one-pot meal (30 minutes including the time it takes to chop the onions and the peppers!!) you will begin to understand why I’ve been making it every week. If even that isn’t enough, I suspect that after your family begins to ask for this stew every week without fail, you will come back and thank me.

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Italian food intimidates me.  I’ve heard the stories about Italian women spending entire days making sauce and unspoken recipes with no actual measurements. This scares me.  I didn’t grow up eating a lot of pasta and as a result never developed much of a taste for it.  But I’m well aware that the rest of the world is rather fond of it.  I’ve heard all the campaigns: It’s so easy! It’s so versatile! It’s so delicious!

These social pressures have, in fact, led me to obsessively keep a box of dry pasta in my pantry out of the fear that I will have an unexpected guest show up who wants pasta for dinner.  Now, this same box has moved with me to at least three different apartments.  As it turns out, people don’t frequently show up at my house demanding pasta.  Nonetheless, I’ve always been terrified that someone will ask for pasta and I won’t know how to cook it! Oh the embarrassment! Can you imagine? You can’t cook pasta!?!?! For shame!

They always say “But it’s so easy!  Just boil water and throw in the pasta!”  I didn’t believe them.  I was certain there was something they weren’t telling me.  Then they would toss around words like al dente and I’d be done for!!  But I had a revelation.  Thanks to Giada.

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