beef ragu and egg noodles

olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 small fennel bulb chopped small
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup milk or cream
1 cup white wine
1 small can of whole tomatoes with juice
2 tbl of fresh basil
1/2 cup stock (i used chicken)
1 tsp sugar
pasta

i found the original/starter recipe a couple years ago in the nyt magazine. it was a good one…but over the years of making it i never had all the ingredients and it’s morphed into something totally different. the original recipe was great, but this is definitely more our speed and you can mix and match the ingredients with things you have available in your house. for instance, i use fennel which i always have around because it is one of my favorites, but if you don’t you can use an onion and throw in some fennel seeds. you can use cream instead of milk and add different kinds of meat other then just beef such as sausage.

we actually made egg noodles tonight! it was a recipe that was just posted yesterday on dine and dish*. i like to involve j in making dinners and i thought this would be the perfect recipe for him,he had a ball. my egg noodles however turned into dumplings but they tasted great. e thinks it might be time to invest in a pasta maker:-)

hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

beef ragu with egg noddles

add olive oil to a large skillet and heat, add and brown beef.
when beef is browned, add fennel and garlic, cook till soften, about 5 minutes.
add milk and simmer on medium for about 5 minutes then add wine, tomatoes, basil, and stock.
uncovered, simmer on the stove top for about 20-25 minutes. you will see it bubbling, just let it go but stir occasionally. the brothy sauce will start to reduce, that is what you want. when done you will have about half the liquid you started with.
while the last step is happening you should be boiling your water and cooking your pasta. when sauce is cooked add pasta to skillet and coat with sauce.

serve with fresh cheese if you like and enjoy!

*you can find the recipe for the egg noodles at dine and dish. great recipe! jack loved it and e got involved as well. p is sick so she was just watching, but she got a kick out of watching j roll out the dough and me trying to cut pasta. you can find lots of other great recipes on her site too, check it out.