Ingredients:
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 ounces pancetta, diced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 6 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 can (28- oz) no-salt added tomatoes, including juice, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup tomato paste (6oz)
Cooking Instructions:
- Soak dried porcini mushrooms for 30 minutes.
- Drain, but reserve mushroom water for later. Chop mushrooms.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pancetta and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a large slow cooker.
- In the same skillet as before, add beef, onions, celery and carrots and cook, stirring, until carrots have softened and meat is no longer pink, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, salt, pepper, cinnamon and mushrooms and cook, constantly stirring for a couple minutes. Add wine, stir, and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Add reserved mushroom liquid.
- Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Add tomatoes with juice and the tomato paste and stir well. Cook for 4 hours on high, removing the lid for the last 30 minutes. Alternatively, cook on 8 to 10 hours on low, removing the lid for the last hour.
- Serve over pasta.
Source : Chow
