Queens Eats: Memorial Day Edition

This article was written by Erin Walsh.

Happy Memorial Day, Patch readers. I hope that you’re enjoying the first weekend of summer. 

The other day, while en route to an event in Chelsea, I noticed a series of tents emblazoned with the words 'Madison Square Eats' erected near Madison Square Park. 

As I wondered through, I notice such hip foodie stands as Momofuku Milk Bar, Mexicu and Roberta’s, so I made a mental note to return shortly and check out the grub. 

My fellow culinary forager and I visited this month-long food fair yesterday and sampled selections from Mighty Balls (we had meatballs with three types of sauce, my fave being the mustardy-onion variety), vegetarian buns from Hong Kong Street Cart and finished off the meal with cookies from Momofuku. Very tasty indeed. 

The fair closes this Friday, so hurry if you want to partake. One of the booths, Sunday Gravy, sells pasta dishes with slow-roasted meat-based sauces. 

In homage to this, I decided to try my hand at a low-fat version of a Bolognese sauce (to counter the calories from Madison Square Eats and my anniversary dinner). Check out this easy and delicious recipe below. 

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce (Source: Skinnytaste.com) 
Note: I used penne, but any type of pasta will work. 

Ingredients
4 oz pancetta, chopped (or center cut bacon)                
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)                 
1 large white onion, minced                 
2 celery stalks (about 3/4 cup), minced                
2 carrots (about 3/4 cup), minced                 
2 lb 95% lean ground beef                
1/4 cup white wine                
2  28 oz cans crushed tomatoes                 
3 bay leaves                
Salt and fresh pepper                 
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley                 
1/2 cup half & half cream 

Directions
In a large deep saute pan, sauté pancetta on low heat until the fat melts, about 4-5 minutes. Add butter, onions, celery and carrots and cook on medium-low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Increase flame to medium-high, add meat, season with salt and pepper and sauté until browned. Drain the fat then add wine, cook until it reduces down, about 3-4 minutes.  

Add to crock pot. Add tomatoes, bay leaves, salt and pepper, cover and set slow cooker to low for six hours. After the six hours, adjust salt and pepper to taste, add half and half and parsley, stir and serve over your favorite pasta. 

Makes about 10 cups. Leftovers can be frozen for future meals. To reheat, thaw in the refrigerator then reheat on the stove or crock pot.