Hearty Bolognese to Share

Our neighbors just had a little girl - Molly Georgia Janes. How adorable is that name? I decided to make them dinner and wanted to take them something they could freeze just in case they didn't eat it right away. So, I made a hearty homemade bolognese sauce. The beauty of this is that this makes a ton so we had dinner for us as well!

What You'll Need: 
2 lbs. of extra lean ground beef
2 onions, diced
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 large carrots, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 large can of crushed tomatoes (do not drain)
1 large can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
2 cups tomato paste
2 cubes of beef bouillon
2 cups dry red wine
1 packet of Italian seasoning
3 tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do: 
Sautee the onion and garlic in olive oil. Careful not to burn the garlic. After that sautees for a bit, add the carrots and celery. Add a little more olive oil if things start sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Add the ground beef and brown along with the veggies.

Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for several hours....the longer the better!

I packaged things up for them.  I sent over a loaf of bread, salad and fixings and uncooked pasta so in case they decided to freeze the sauce, they could save it for later.

I separated out the salad toppings so they wouldn't get soggy.  I included dried cranberries, toasted pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese.

I made a quick champagne dijon dressing (champagne vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard and salt and pepper) and separated that out as well.  With a quick label it was easy to explain what everything was.  And, I thought it looked kind of cute.

Here's the whole shebang before I put it in a bag to take over to them.