To make the ragu, you'll need: onion, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, canned tomatoes, pasta, basil, hot and sweet Italian sausage and pork bones.  

First step: laying out the bones for roasting.  

You want to space them out, and the rack ensures browning on all sides. Don't forget a little salt!  

Into the oven.  

30 minutes later, they're full of rich, caramelized flavor.  

Jennifer helps Merrill remove the casings from the sausages -- a delicate business.  

We had a hard time slicing the sausage once the casings were removed, so we just formed little meatballs for roasting instead.  

Once the sausage is out of the oven, it's time to start the sauce.  

Any respectable ragu starts with onion, doesn't it?  

A tomato lineup.  

Cooking the tomato paste in a "hot spot."  

Using the tomato paste can to measure out the water is a great time -- and dish -- saver.  

In go the tomatoes!  

A bay leaf peeks out from among the tomato orbs.  

Time to nestle in the sausage and bones.  

We added some of the liquid from the tomatoes right off the bat, as the sauce looked a little dry.  

Now it simmers for 3 hours!  

Then it looks like this...  

We used penne rigate, which we thought would hold the sauce nicely.  

A little basil, and you're all set!  

The ingredients: dried chilis, cumin, chili powder, oregano, tomato sauce, bittersweet chocolate, ground pork, beef cubes, garlic, onion and brown sugar.  

We used dried New Mexico chilis to make the homemade chili paste.  

Removing the seeds -- otherwise, the paste would be atomic.  

You just pour a little boiling water over the chilis and let them soften.  

Jennifer helps out in Amanda's absence by frying up some bacon.  

That's some well-tended bacon! Can you tell the food52ers were hungry this morning?  

The hydrated chilis get pulverized in the food processor.  

Checking the consistency, with Jennifer's helpful eye.  

You won't end up with much paste once you've press the chilis through a sieve, but it's powerful stuff.  

Browning the meat, which is cut into beautiful small cubes.  

We advise the use of a screen for this step.  

The ground pork gets browned too.  

Then, the beef goes back into the pot with the onion, garlic and broth to cover.  

After the meat has simmered for 90 minutes, it's time for the spices: first, a whole lot of chili powder.  

Salt and some cumin we toasted in a pan follow.  

Now it's time for the chili paste. Wssmom says to start with half, which we did -- we ended up adding the rest towards the end after we tasted the chili.  

A little chocolate, which had melted from sitting near the stove. No matter!  

And some tomato sauce -- we used canned, but if you have homemade, by all means use that.  

Merrill gives the chili a good stir, and then it simmers for a little longer so that the flavors have a chance to meld.    

It really is a bowl of red!