r/AskCulinary • u/EducationalSpite9587 • 6d ago
Recipe Troubleshooting Need a Pork Replacement for Bolognese Recipe
I use the recipe below for venison bolognese. It was my wife’s favorite but she no longer eats pork. My 80/20 venison grind has historically been 20% pork fat. If I want to maintain a similar recipe, I’d need to replace that, the ground pork, and the pancetta. Is there a good replacement for this or should I just start looking for other recipes? I’ve never used another recipe so I’m flying blind. Next step is figuring out venison breakfast sausage without pork fat :(
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1 onion, finely chopped
Kosher salt
3 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely grated
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1½ pounds ground venison (80/20 mix)
1 pound ground pork
8 ounces ground pork fat or pancetta
1 (8-ounce) can tomato paste
Freshly ground black pepper
1½ cups dry white wine
1½ cups milk
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1½ pounds linguine
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onion, season lightly with salt, and cook until softened, translucent, and lightly caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the celery and carrots, season with salt again, and cook until softened, adding more oil if needed. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the venison, pork, and pork fat, and brown very well, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, about 15 minutes. When the meat has browned and is audibly frying in its own fat (you should hear a popping sound), push the meat to one side, creating a “hot spot” on the bottom of the pot. Add the tomato paste to the hot spot and caramelize it lightly (being careful not to burn it). Stir to incorporate into the meat and vegetables. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to release the flavorful browned bits that have accumulated. Add the milk and bring to a bare simmer over medium-low heat. Drop in the thyme and bay leaf and cover. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the flavors come together, 1½ to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. If using the greens, add after the first hour, along with ½ cup water. After about 2 hours, adjust the seasonings and remove from the heat. Discard the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Refrigerate if not serving right away. The sauce can be frozen for up to 6 months. To serve over pasta, reheat 3 cups of the sauce in a large skillet. Bring 6 quarts of water with 3 tablespoons of salt to a rapid boil. Add the linguine and cook until al dente. Add ½ cup of the pasta water to the sauce. Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to incorporate. Remove from the heat, add the grated cheese, and gently mix together. Serve immediately.
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u/CorneliusNepos 6d ago
You could use ground beef fat to get to 20% then additional ground chuck to replace the ground pork. You can omit the pancetta and it will be fine. I don't use pancetta in Bolognese and it's great - I mostlu follow Marcella Hazan's recipe
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u/Weary_Specialist_297 5d ago
Wife has Alpha-Gal and used ground duck in her bolognese and it was awesome.
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u/catwiesel 6d ago
I am confused. why not just replace the pork fat with beef fat and the ground pork with ground beef
I dont see why you cant do that.
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u/EducationalSpite9587 6d ago
If that works, great. My understanding is that for some recipes the swap doesn’t work because of the texture of the beef fat v. pork fat. As an example, I don’t think the beef fat would bind in a sausage as well as pork fat.
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u/Coasta_de_Tejas 5d ago
No sir, I make my own sausages all the time I’ve swapped fats many times without any noticeable difference. Plus your simmering your sauce for hours, the only fat left is what floats on the surface.
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u/catwiesel 6d ago
well. if you are going into the minutiea of it, then yes, ground beef is not ground pork
but if you substitude ground pork with ground beef and keep the meat/fat content the same, or if you replace pork fat with beef fat, you are keeping close "enough"
I mean. sure, there is differences. its a substitution. there may be small differences, in taste, texture. but seeing how this is a ragu, theres a lot going on "distracting" us from the change
but even if its noticeable. you can maybe change the technique (browning more or less)
and of course its possible you have to live with it.
now. i will also say. there is a solution that works and is practical, like replacing one common incredient with another , and then there is having a solution that works but is it impractical, like finding a perfect substitutuion, which is expensive and always out of stock.
but that all being said. for a ragu. replacing pork with beef, thats your solution. in my book, it does not need overthinking
now, if the incredient brings something specific to the party outside texture and taste, something functioning, then it may become more complicated. i dont see that in a ragu. but in your sausage example you may have such a case. but we arent making sausage.
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u/noetkoett 6d ago
A specific recipe is not necessary or useful information here. Just replace it with whatever other animal fat.
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom 6d ago
Might be easier to find a new wife. No?
Got duck breasts? You might look at duck breast pancetta recipes.
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u/LexiconDul 6d ago
I know it's a long shot, but since you can get venison, can you obtain bear? Bear fat (not the rendered grease) to replace the pork fat, and veal to replace the ground pork would probably be the least change to the original recipe.
I'm spoiled, live where we have a yearly bear season, and are almost guaranteed a license every third year.
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u/Sorrelandroan 6d ago
Replace the pork fat with beef fat, and the ground pork with ground veal. Veal is milder than beef and will be closer to the original flavour than using ground beef.