For the greatest Manhattan cocktail, use this recipe and serve it straight up or on the rocks. The majority of people who consume the standard Manhattan prefer it stirred rather than shaken. (Only jiggle it when prompted!)
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 28 |
| Yield: | 3 1/2 quarts |
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces lean ground pork
- ¼ pound lean ground beef
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ pound chicken liver
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
Instructions
- In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and pancetta; cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a heavy large saucepan.
- In the same skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Cook and stir ground pork and beef in hot oil until crumbly and browned. Pour in wine, increase heat to medium-high, and boil briskly, stirring constantly, until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. Transfer ground meat mixture to the saucepan with pancetta and vegetables. Set the skillet aside.
- Stir beef stock and tomato paste into the saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté chicken livers in hot butter until firm and lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove livers from the skillet and dice. Set aside and add to sauce 10 minutes before it is done.
- A few minutes before serving, stir in cream and cook until sauce is heated through. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 135 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 59 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 167 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delish! I didn’t have all the ingredients in the recipe this time so I used what I had. I had no celery, ground pork, or chicken livers so I substituted lean bacon for pancetta, increased lean sirloin to 1.5 pounds and substituted heavy cream for evaporated milk. It was a bit different from the time before when I used all the ingredients in their proper measures but it was still “ buono”
1 lb lean ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork
I am in the process of making this right now. I used a mini food processor to chop the onions, garlic, celery and carrots. I also used homemade chicken and beef broth in addition to red wine. I did not use tomato paste, but instead a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes and two fresh plum tomatoes I had in my fridge which I parboiled and peeled. For the meat, I used beef and ground pork and some chopped pork hocks that I also had on hand. I agree that you should salt at the end. I plan to cook it for at least six hours at a very slow simmer as I have done in the past. The chicken livers are essential in my view and I also used the mini food processor to chop them. Already it tastes delicious but will be even better the day after. I give this recipe very high marks. Do not be afraid of the chicken livers. My friend said it was the best pasta she ever had in her life! I have also used a veal, pork and beef combination in the past, but veal is too expensive now, so I have omitted in this recipe.
Lovely. Browned the pancetta first and didn’t use chicken livers. Nice even before the cream added. Obviously drank the rest of the white wine!
OMG this is delicious! As written with one exception…NO chicken livers!. Please don’t add salt to the sauce. I did, it was great but did not need the salt!
Wow! I always thought this was bologna, and i can’t stand bologna!! This is far better than bologna or anything else Oscar Meyer makes. We’ll be serving this up for the new youth pastor for sure!
Very delicious recipe! First time making bolognese and we really loved it. I was a bit skeptical seeing dairy and nutmeg being added, but this sauce is melt in your mouth good! Like others, I left out the chicken liver because we don’t eat them (hence had none on hand) and used 1 cup of milk instead of the heavy whipping cream (bolognese sauce recipes either call for milk or heavy cream anyway). Otherwise, I followed the recipe as instructed (no changes to the ingredient amounts or directions) and it was perfect for us! I used the sauce to fill Paccheri pasta (next time would fill and bake, but my husband enjoyed it), and over gluten free spaghetti for me. TIPS: Use a chopper/processor (I have a ninja set) to chop the onion and carrot. Two (maybe 3 carrots?) yielded 1 cup diced. 2 stalks celery yielded ~1/2 cup diced (not with the chopper). I’m no longer intimidated to make a bolognese sauce and will continue to make it. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
I made this exactly as called for and we loved it!!! Delicious and I know the leftovers will be even better tomorrow!
I scaled this down to 3 servings to utilize 1 raw hamburger that I had on hand to use up, and skipped the chicken liver. This was tasty, and something that I’d make again.
This sauce is rich and delectable – 5 stars for sure, however the serving size has to be a typo. I believe it serves closer to 8 people than 28. I made the recipe as directed except for the following alterations. The sauce needed a longer simmer than 45 minutes. I think I let mine go for at least 2 hours before I felt it was the correct consistency. I replaced the heavy cream with half and half and didn’t measure, but probably used closer to 3/4 cup than a full cup. As my husband doesn’t care for chicken liver, I left that out as well. We really loved this sauce – definitely 5 stars!
An absolute delight! Many people might be put off by the long list of ingredients, but it’s really VERY simple to put this delicious, authentic sauce together. The relatively small amount of time spent on prep yields a rich, complex sauce full of flavor. Like any good cook, I made substitutions based on what I had on hand: bacon for pancetta, all ground beef instead of the beef/pork blend, etc. Best of all, it takes only TWO pans to make this magic happen: a good skillet and a medium/large saucepan. I used my LeCreuset Dutch oven and it was way too big. Even better was the suggestion of adding salt to taste at the end of cooking: it needed none. (And we all consume WAY too much salt anyway). Personal preference changes: In addition to the nutmeg, some additions from the south of Italy: I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and about a half tsp of sugar which “opens up” the flavor of the sautéed vegetables, but you’d be fine no doing this. This sauce really merits homemade or fresh pasta – don’t blow it by serving over dried boxed pasta – you’ll be glad you did! Last, the longer you let it simmer, the better the flavor and it’s even better served the day after you make it. Definitely a keeper!
Im sorry but too much work and this does not make 28
Amazing recipe! I left out chicken livers and used diced prosciutto instead of pancetta. I’ve made this a dozen times now. Sooo good
Great recipe! I printed a coupon for use in this recipe from www.frugalharbor.com
Good sauce. I had to skim a fair amount of oil, next time I’ll use less butter.
Did not like the taste of this sauce at all. I’ll stick with my marinara!
Sooo good love it!! I omitted the chicken livers though and just do 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound ground pork for simplicity- I also add more than 1/2 cup white wine. Probably 3/4 a cup. I also used more tomato paste- a whole little can. Then It seems the longer I let it sit on the stove on low heat the better it gets! I love this stuff, make it all the time and all my friends request it, it’s gone fast!
This was great, a very hearty meat sauce. I left out the chicken livers and used more tomato paste, cut the cream to 1/2 cup. I got a mix of ground beef, pork and veal that worked well. I’ll definitely make it again.
Awesome recipe. So so good. The only thing I changed is I chopped up the livers in a chopper before I cooked them just to makes cook up a little better.
Just made this and added one chili for zing, and used pancetta instead of ham….awesome! Tastes similar to what my Nona used to make when I was a kid. This is very traditional to the Tuscan region where my family is from. Thanks for the recipe. Note. If you add a little more meat and grind it all up you can also place it on top of fried crostini’s and put the mixture top …then top it off with a caper. Dee elvish. We had that to start the meals off as an appetizers before Christmas and Easter dinner celebrations. (Probably best to add extra ‘innards’ for the pate dish).
I liked this, I wasn’t in love with it though. I make my own bolognese but I wanted to see what someone elses tasted like and this got good reviews. First off I did not use the chicken livers, nor will I ever as I don’t like them. Secondly I couldn’t resist not using garlic, I added garlic powder to the meat while cooking. I used deli prosciutto and added alittle pepperoni. What I liked was the creaminess of this sauce and celery and wine, and nutmeg, my sauce has none of those things. What I think I may do is incorporate those into my sauce, but this is a good weeknight meal that dosen’t require an entire day of cooking. I prep in the morning and my hubby finishes off the cooking at night since we have different schedules.