Bolognese Ragu Sauce

This is a delicious and classic ragu -- a Bolognese meat sauce -- put together by Marcella Hazan, a woman I hadn't heard of until recently, but who was considered the mother of Italian cooking in America. (I first learned about Hazan only after she died, in this NY Times article.) I modified this recipe below from her original one I found here, but not too much...I used a little less butter and instead of white wine I used red. Be patient, as you'll commit half a day to this, but the hearty thick sauce that results is worth it.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/3 cups chopped celery
• 1 1/3 cups chopped carrot
• 1/2 pound ground beef chuck
• 1/2 pound ground pork
• 1/2 pound ground veal
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or ground if your’re bereft of fresh
• 2 cups red wine
• 3 cups canned imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juice
• As much spaghetti as you wish, cooked and drained
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, at the table

Instructions

1. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy 5-quart over medium heat until the butter melts and stops foaming. Drop in the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it has become translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Dump in the celery and carrot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well with the fat.
3. Add the ground meats, a very healthy pinch of salt, and a good amount of pepper. Crumble the meat with a wooden spoon, and stir well until the meats have lost their raw red color.
4. Turn the heat to low. Pour in the milk and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has burbled away completely, about 1 hour. Stir in the nutmeg.
5. Pour in the wine and let it simmer, stirring frequently, until it has evaporated, about 1 1/4 hours.
6. Add the crushed tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat everything well. When the tomato puree begins to bubble, turn down the heat so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through the surface.
7. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is burbling away, there’s a chance that it’ll stat drying out somewhat, and the fat will separate from the meat.To keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching, add 1/2 cup water as necessary. But it’s crucial that by the time the sauce has finished simmering, the water should be completely evaporated, and the fat should separate from the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Take hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the side.

Serves 8. Eat with pleasure.