Letting the sauce simmer for a couple hours on the stove helps develop all the flavors, so give yourself plenty of time. If you're looking to change things up, you can also make this recipe using conchiglie (shell-shaped pasta) or penne (tube-shaped pasta), both of which are great for hearty meat sauces.

Fettuccine Bolognese

Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat.

Add onions and saut&#233 until onions are tender, about 3 minutes.

Add fennel, carrot, celery, garlic, fennel seeds and thyme and sauté until vegetables are tender and pale golden, about 15 minutes.

Add mushrooms and cook until they are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add beef, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up beef so no clumps form and until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. 

Add wine and cook until it has almost completely reduced, about 8 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their juices, tomato sauce and broth. Bring sauce to a simmer. 

Cover pot and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer very gently, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are very tender, about 1 hour. Uncover and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until sauce has reduced and thickened slightly, about 1-1/2 hours longer. 

Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Just before serving, cook fettuccine in large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.

Lift pasta from water and transfer it to sauce; reserve pasta water.

Using carving fork, toss pasta well to combine with sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper, adding a little of reserved pasta water, if necessary, to thin out sauce.

Twirl some pasta around carving fork, then point fork prongs perpendicularly into center of pasta serving bowl. Allow pasta to fall off prongs, forming swirled mound of pasta on each plate. Repeat with remaining pasta.

Mix some of basil into remaining sauce in pot, then spoon sauce over pasta.

Sprinkle remaining basil over each bowl of pasta, then grate Parmesan over and serve.