adapted from the recipes of Lydia Davis and Mario Batali
“If only I had a chance to learn from my mistakes, I would, but there are too many things you don’t do twice; in fact, the most important things are things you don’t do twice, so you can’t do them better the second time. You do something wrong, and see what the right thing would have been, and are ready to do it, should you have the chance again, but the next experience is quite different, and your judgment is wrong again, and though you are now prepared for this experience should it repeat itself, you are not prepared for the next experience.”
-Lydia Davis
.
If only, for instance, you could run away to Barcelona twice, then the second time you could make sure not to leave, because you would have the perspective of being older, and would know that the person advising you to return to New York was giving you the wrong advice because her reasons were the same ones she gave you the last time she advised you to return to New York. If you had a second chance to return to this city, for a second time, you would know that it would not be as easy as your first time in here, unless you decided to live in a new neighborhood and maybe if you accepted that job they offered.
If you could fall in love for the first time, again, the second time you might be prepared to fight for your independence because, being wiser, you would know that independence is essential to a new adult life. But if you were prepared to fight for that, and did, you would still have to go through falling in love for the first time, again, in order to know enough about yourself to understand what a healthy relationship is like, instead of just unhealthy ones, before you relegate yourself, a second time, to seven years of straight monogamy. Then you’d have to fall yet one more time to make sure you weren’t just avoiding the loneliness that crept up on you when your parents split up and then swept you up when they started over.
.
Luckily, you have the opportunity to try every recipe as many times as necessary, and you now know, contrary to his advice the first time, that you should prepare the Lasagna Bolognese days in advance, beginning with the Ragú, and take advantage of your ample freezer space. When the family comes on Christmas Eve it will be hot and brown and waiting on the kitchen table, just beside the decorated tree.
Ragu Bolognese
for Pascale’s Red and Green Christmas Lasagna
recipe adapted from Mario Batali’s Lasagña Al Forno
- 2 medium golden onions
- 4 ribs celery
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef or veal
- 1 pound ground pork
- 4 ounces pancetta
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
To begin, first thinly slice the garlic cloves. Then finely chop your onions, celery and carrots, placing all into a bowl. This combination is known as a mirepoix.
Next, preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the olive oil and mirepoix and cook until translucent, but not browned, for about 5 minutes.
Finely chop the pancetta. If you have a food processor, simply quarter the pancetta and then process until ground. Mix with ground pork and beef. Once the mirepoix has cooked, add the meat and increase the heat to high, stirring frequently, until brown, for about 15 minutes.
Once the meat has browned evenly, add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Then add the white wine, heavy cream, water, and fresh thyme. Stir again, scraping the bottom if needed. Let everything come to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.
As the ragu cooks, remember to stir it occasionally, to avoid it from sticking or scorching. Once the ragu finishes, take it off the heat and let cool for a half-hour, and then freeze it until the day you make your lasagna.
