Expressing My Identity Through Cooking ft. A Tasty Venison Bolognese Recipe

Venison Bolognese

I’m sure many people can relate to the sentiment that “food is their love language.” For me, cooking is so much more than just putting together a meal—it’s a way to express who I am. It’s about blending my love for hunting and my connection to the natural world with my commitment to supporting local growers and small businesses. Each dish I create is a reflection of that identity, and through it, I hope to share a story that helps people connect with the food they eat and the land where it comes from.

It might seem a bit of a stretch to think that every meal holds a lifetime of stories. But for the meals that require time and care, my goal is to make the final dish something that carries its own meaning, something worth the effort—something that makes people feel good about the whole experience.

Take this Venison Bolognese, for example. It’s a perfect reflection of that intention. While four hours might seem like a long time to spend on a dish that’s eaten in less than an hour, the ingredients are more than just what ends up on the plate. They’re a reflection of my own personal values—grounded in conservation, sustainability, and a deep respect for the land.

Quality Ingredients are a Necessity

My approach to creating a meal usually begins with an ingredient I already have on hand. This year, I was lucky enough to have a successful hunting season, so my freezer is stocked with plenty of venison—perfect for just about any occasion.

With Valentine’s Day falling alongside a friend's birthday, it felt like the perfect opportunity to cook something special, so I got to brainstorming.

For some reason, Valentine’s Day always makes me think of Italian food, and pasta with meat sauce was the clear choice.

I already had venison as my base, but since traditional Bolognese typically calls for pork and beef, I wanted to bring a little more richness to the dish. I didn’t want to just pick up any old pork at the store, so I set out to find something that felt right—something I could feel good about using.

Living in South Central Tennessee, I’m all too familiar with the challenges of finding fresh, sustainable ingredients. The area is a bit of a food desert, where healthy produce and responsibly sourced foods can feel like a distant dream when you walk into most grocery stores. But despite this, there are several local family-run farms doing things right, providing quality products and serving as true stewards of the land.

LUNCH—a local farm-to-table restaurant—has a small market where they sell a few local ingredients, from meat and eggs to honey and cheese. On this day, I was lucky enough to find some pork belly for sale from a nearby farm- Baker Family Pastures. Their pigs are raised in the forest where they can forage for nuts, fruits, roots, and plants. Not only does this create a superior-tasting product, but it’s also part of a silvopastoral system, which combines trees, forage crops, and livestock. This practice is great for the soil, supports biodiversity, and helps sequester carbon.

I did my best to stick to local sourcing for the rest of the dish, getting my peeled tomatoes and tomato paste from another nearby grocery. Of course, some ingredients did come from the Piggly Wiggly—not every part of the story is all sunshine and rainbows, but it’s all about doing the best with what you’ve got.

Venison Bolognese Ingredients

• 2 pounds of ground venison
• 1 pound of pork belly
• 7oz of tomato paste
• 14oz of peeled can tomatoes
• 32oz of beef stock
• 1 cup of red wine (I used merlot)
• 3 large carrots
• 3 sticks of celery
• 1 large white onion
• 1 large shallot
• 6 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup of olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Shredded parmesan
• I used fettuccine (you can use just about any pasta, but if you happen to ask an Italian, they’ll probably tell you absolutely no spaghetti)

How to Make Venison Bolognese

• Step 1: Prep the VegetablesStart by roughly mincing your vegetables. Don’t worry about perfection here—just chop them small enough so they blend well into the sauce.
• Step 2: Sauté the VeggiesHeat oil in a large pan (I used a big paella pan, which was nearly overflowing by the end). Add all your chopped vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Step 3: Add Wine and Cook-Off AlcoholPour in half a cup of wine and stir it in. Let the alcohol cook off, which should only take a few minutes.
• Step 4: Stir in Tomato Paste and TomatoesAdd your tomato paste and half of your peeled tomatoes. Stir everything together until well incorporated.
• Step 5: Add the MeatNow, add your venison and pork. Try to get as much meat-to-pan contact as possible, but don’t worry if it’s hard to brown all the meat. There’s plenty of time for everything to cook down during the stewing process. Keep stirring to mix it all together.
• Step 6: Add the Second Half of the Wine and TomatoesPour in the remaining wine and stir it in until it burns off. Then, add the rest of your tomatoes and mix it all up.
• Step 7: Add Stock and SimmerLower the heat to medium-low and add about 1/6th of your beef stock. The mixture should look soupy with the stock pooling at the bottom. As it heats, the sauce will absorb the stock.
• Step 8: Let it SimmerHere comes the easy part: let it simmer! Every 20 minutes or so, add more stock if the sauce starts to dry out. Keep mixing, and let the sauce cook for at least 3 hours (4 hours is ideal). I didn’t cover mine, so the liquid evaporated a bit quicker, which helped the flavors concentrate. The longer it simmers, the better it tastes!

Serving Your Friends and Family

My pasta took about 15 minutes to hit that perfect al dente texture, which I highly recommend for this dish. I also whipped up some garlic bread, which combined with the sauce is a perfect addition. A little sprinkle of parmesan on top, and boom—you're ready to serve up the final masterpiece to your crew.

Now, about that wine. You should definitely have enough left over to enjoy alongside the meal, but I’ll be honest—depending on how many people you’ve got, you might want to grab another bottle… or three. Trust me, it only improves the overall experience.

The best part of every meal for me is sitting down and sharing it with your friends and family – on this Valentine's evening, we decided to break out a competitive game of Catan afterward. (My friends and I, of course, took our game very seriously post-meal).

Just remember,* every meal has a story, make sure to tell it well.*