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For Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, Jessica Holmes craves a cozy warm meal.

“My family’s not Italian, but we tend to cook Italian food a lot for Christmas Eve,” she explained. “I just think the colors and usually it’s kind of a cozy sort of a meal.”

With that in mind, Jessica has cooked up a pappardelle bolognese.

This slow-cooking meal is perfect to make at the beginning of the day and makes your home smell so good.

This segment of California Cooking with Jessica Holmes aired on Episode 163.

Ingredients

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

2 carrots peeled

2-3 stalks of celery

1 lb 80/20 ground beef

1 package chopped pancetta

1 cup milk

1 cup crushed, finely chopped tomatoes

1-2 tbsp tomato paste

1 cup white wine

1 tsp nutmeg

Parmesan rinds

Pappardelle pasta

Heavy Cream

Instructions

  • Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic to a food processor and pulse until you get a fine chop.
  • Add 1 tbsp of butter and drizzle of olive oil to a Dutch oven pot.
  • Add ground beef, a heavy pinch of salt, pepper and pancetta, and cook until browned.
  • Remove meat from pot and set aside.
  • Add one more tablespoon of butter to the pot and add carrots, onions, celery, garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until veggies are soft.
  • Add meat back in with milk, tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, parmesan rinds, a pinch of salt and nutmeg. Cover the pot and let slowly simmer for a few hours until liquid is reduced.
  • Add a splash of heavy cream.
  • Cook pasta according to the instructions on the box.
  • Add pasta directly into pasta sauce, adding ½ cup to 1 cup of pasta water.
  • Remove parmesan rinds.
  • Shave parmesan cheese on pasta and serve!
  • Merry Christmas!