Orcchiette for Ovarian Cancer Month

September is Ovarian Cancer month. Once again Michelle of Bleeding Espresso and Sara of Mrs. Adventures in Italy are hosting an "O Foods" contest to help raise awareness for this silent killer.

There are two ways you can help spread the word and be entered into the contest:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009



2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post the entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

This year I'm submitting: Orcchiette with Ragu Alla Bolognese.



This particular bolognese sauce is a new one for me. Adapted from Mary Ann Esposito's Mangia Pasta it cooks a lot quicker than most bolognese recipes I'm used to but is equally delicious.

Ragu Alla Bolognese

2 ounces pancetta
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 medium carrot, peeled
1 medium rib celery
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground pork
½ cup dry red wine
14 ounces tomatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
½ cup heavy cream
Mince the pancetta, onion, carrot and celery together. Set aside. Heat olive oil. Over low heat, cook the minced vegetable mixture very slowly uncovered for about 30 minutes. Add the ground meat, salt and pepper. Brown completely. Stir in the wine and let it completely evaporate. Stir in the tomatoes, cover the pot and cook the ragu over very low heat for 45 minutes. Stir in the cream and heat through.

You can read about my last year's submission here.