Nice article, thanks. Bologna is a great place to hang out. Not too many tourists because it doesn't compete with art capitals like Florence, but the old city is beautiful and full of life. Great trattoria everywhere you walk, and so cheap compared to what it would cost to eat like that in the U.S. And ... 2 blocks from the Duomo might be THE best gelateria in Italy, Cremeria Cavour.
Anyway, here's everything I know about Bolognese. You really can't make Bolognese without access to the kind of pork they have in Italy. However, you can make a fairly good impression of a bolognese using ground turkey and bacon (not smoked, but maple cured is okay). Start with finely diced carrot and onion, fry in butter, then chop the bacon into tiny cubes, then a small quantity of finely diced roma tomato (canned is best, San Marzano or equivalent). Keep frying until the pan gets sticky and the onion and tomato start to caramelize. Then deglaze with wine, then add cream and a little chicken broth. You may want to add butter because ground turkey is low fat.
The sauce really needs an umami ingredient. I sprinkle in a little bit of MSG. Just like salt, you don't ovedo it (and don't believe the old wive's tales about MSG -- no scientific basis at all). But another way to get there, strange as it sounds, is to sprinkle in asian fish sauce which is made by crushing anchovies. You could also get there with dried shitake mushrooms but that takes the dish out of Italy. Anyway, the umami ingredient is essential. It is the difference between good bolognese and WOW bolognese.
Best way to cook it is to put the pot into the oven at 250 for about 3 hours -- so you end up with a reduction, i.e. the water evaporates off and the flavor concentrates.
Real parmeggiano-reggiano is expensive, and not always worth it, but for Bolognese it is worth it. You're adding cheese early, late and just before serving.
The whole point with bolognese is that the tomato is very much in the backgound -- it's a source of sweetness, mostly --- and the seasoning is meant to be very light. Northern Italian cooking is generally very mild and subtle. It's about letting the flavor of the meat shine through.
Now the only other point I would make is that you HAVE to make your own noodles. Putting a bolognese on dried noodles from a box is a crime. Really. Literally people should be charged with a misdemeanor.
Homemade noodles are actually VERY easy to make with a food processor. Standard flour is fine. 1 cup (sifted) flour to an egg. Process it into a ball and then work it to stretch the protein. If you have a pasta roller it's easy but really it's just fine to use a rolling pin. You just roll it up to a little less than 1/8 inch thickness and then cut into strips using a pizza cutter and put the strips in boiling water and then EAT. If the noodles are irregular shape and thickness THAT IS OKAY -- variation only makes it more interesting.
Once you get the hang of it, this is SHOCKINGLY good. Your guests will be amazed and it is really very easy.
Here's the great article on Bolognese I have ever read, by one of the best young chefs in the world, Kenji Lopez-Alt. You don't have to do everything he says (he suggests fish sauce by the way) but you can get a sense of what you're aiming for.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/12/the-food-lab-slow-cooked-bolognese-sauce-recipe.html
