Summer Bolognese Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes and Sausage

Have an abundance of fresh tomatoes? Try this take on a traditional bolognese sauce. It's a quick meal to make for dinner tonight -- or to freeze and save for the winter months ahead. We like to do both - eat what we can now, and freeze the leftovers for later.

This recipe is adapted from Michael Ruhlman's From Scratch - my favorite cookbook for learning how to make homemade meals from farm-fresh food. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or lard
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 pack Bell Pepper & Onion smoked sausage (or any flavor sausage links), cut into rounds
• Salt, to taste (we prefer unrefined salt like Redmond's)
• 2 cups whole milk 
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 6 cups plain tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano or 2 bay leaves

Directions

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pot (like a Dutch oven). Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add salt to season as the onion cooks.

Add the smoked sausage rounds, and cook, flipping on both sides until browned and cooked through.

Add the milk and gently stir in. Simmer until the liquid has cooked off and the milk solids begin to brown.

Add the fresh tomatoes and garlic and gently stir for 1 minute.

Add the red wine and cook, scraping up the brown bits off the pan and cooking until reduced.

Add tomato sauce, seasoning and salt to taste. Simmer on the stove, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 45 to 60 minutes.