Rigatoni with White Bolognese

Although this takes closer to 2 hours to cook than the 1 hour indicated by the recipe, you end up with a flavorful and rich meat sauce that has a real Italian feel to it. I added some dried basil and oregano to the mirepoix and wasn't sorry to have done so. I also chopped some parsley and let my guests decide if they wanted it or not. I did, and was glad I did. Adds flavor but also some color to a bland looking dish.

This is an easy to do-ahead sauce for winter entertaining. Because the sauce is so rich, a salad with some citrus is a nice contrast. Also, because the sauce has so much flavor, an Italian red rather than one of the "big" California reds is a good choice.

The recipe calls for ground beef and sweet Italian sausage and that's what I used. Hot could be used instead, or you could do a mix if you like more heat.