Bolognese

Bolognese may be the perfect dinner party food.

To make it, you chop up some vegetables, brown some beef, pour over some canned tomatoes, bring it to a simmer and…walk away. Come back to stir it every once in while, but bolognese is like a teenager - it wants to be left alone. Also like a teenager, if you trust it enough to be left alone it will develop robust and complex notes sure to impress.

(As you may have guessed, I was not so angsty as a teenager. But I hear other teenagers did want to be left alone).

All that leaving it alone gives you plenty of time to prep everything else for your dinner party. This particular dinner party was our second Friend of a Friend fête and I dare brag that even after preparing the rest of the menu and setting up the house, we still had time for a leisurely glass of wine before guests arrived.

Such is the power of bolognese.

Want to join our next Friend of a Friend dinner party? Sign up at friendofafriendmeals.com

Recipe courtesy of Marcella Hazan, New York Times