bolognese sauce - the house md experiment

 "I'm extremely disappointed. I send you out for exciting, new designer drugs, you come back with tomato sauce." - Gregory House

Being the medical nerd I am, House MD is one of the few shows I truly enjoy on TV. In the second episode of this season, House becomes obsessed with cooking and makes Wilson taste his bolognese sauce first thing in the morning - one with star anise and caramelized onions and one without.

Okay...hold on a second. Star anise in bolognese? The hell? Who puts star anise in bolognese sauce? Italians would have me hanged, take away my olive oil, Tony Soprano himself would come kick my ass. But...House is a (TV) genius... It has to taste good...right? So I did a little research and found that Heston Blumenthal, owner and Michelin starred chef of the Fat Duck in Bray, England adds star anise to his bolognese. So I embarked on a 3 hour culinary adventure. To see if the sulfur compounds in star anise actually do make the meat sauce better.

Star Anise Bolognese

Original, Makes a Lot of Sauce

Note: I'm going to go a little Ruhlman on you. I actually don't know the exact amounts of the vegetables, wine, and milk. I will however, tell you about the ratios you should have for the mirepoix

Ingredients: (for 3lbs of ground meat)

- 2lbs of ground chuck and 1lb of ground pork (or any quantity in a 2:1 ratio)

- 2:1:1 ratio of diced onion, carrot and celery

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1.5 tablespoons of tomato paste

- splash of white wine, about 0.5 cup

- about 0.5 to 2/3 cup of milk

- pinch of nutmeg, about 0.25 teaspoon

- 2 star anise

- 2 cans of San Marzano tomatoes, with the juice

1) While you get over the inexact amount of ingredients...add a glug of olive oil to a hot pot and brown the ground meats. Season with salt and pepper. Once browned, remove to a plate and set aside.

2) In the same pot, add another glug or two of olive oil and sweat down the vegetables. If you want a spicier sauce, feel free to add in crushed red pepper at this point. Season with salt and pepper and add in 1 of the 2 star anise. Sweat down until the onions are softened.

(this is probably a 2:1.5:1.5 ratio...I was clearing out my produce)

3) Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook out for about 30 seconds.

4) Deglaze with white wine and reduce until it's at a syrupy consistency.

5) Add in the San Marzano tomatoes and stir to incorporate the vegetables well.

6) Place the browned meats and any of its juices back into the pot, add the milk, sprinkle in the nutmeg and throw in the other star anise. Season again lightly with salt and pepper. Remember, this will reduce for 3 hours so you don't want to overseason at this point.

7) Bring the sauce back up to a simmer and reduce for about 3 hours or until the sauce has reduced in volume and thickened. Stir occasionally during the 3 hour process.

 (before)

(after)

8) Adjust seasoning at the end and serve over your favorite pasta. Long pastas like tagliatelle, pappardelle and short pastas like rigatoni and penne work well for this sauce.

_________________________________________________

Verdict? I think it does taste better than bolognese without the star anise. Even if you don't like anisey flavors, it's not a dominant flavor and acts as a compliment to the sauce. I mean five spice (which has star anise) is a common accompaniment to pork and duck in Asian cooking. I guess it works along that same theory. Also, star anise is in pho broth (aka crack) and gives the soup a really deep, aromatic, delicious flavor. I'll have to try adding in caramelized onions next time and separate that from the mirepoix to see if that makes a difference.