We wanted pasta. But the usual suspects just didn't appeal. What to do? I had some ground beef... but meaty tomato sauce wasn't it either...
So, I sautéed a lot of chopped garlic in EVOO. Before it started to brown, I added the ground beef and cooked it until it started to lose its pinkness. Then I had an idea: one of the things I love about Bolognese sauce is the use of dairy... which softens the meat fibers... so I added some whole milk (which I grew up calling "homo" - don't ask!).
And then... real inspiration struck... I went to the freezer and pulled out a bag of duxelles (which I KNOW you've all made to keep on hand for situations JUST like this!). I put in about a third of a cup... I know that's a lot... but I wanted this sauce to be almost as much mushroom as meat. I happened to have a tablespoon or 2 of sour cream... so in it went.
WOW! Meaty, mushroomy, creamy... This was tossed with some fresh pasta and topped with a black snowfall of pepper, and a few gratings of Parmesan... I was a happy man.
