While the sauce is not difficult to make at all, it does take a few hours to develop that perfect flavor and thickness. It’s a wonderful meal to make on the weekend, when you have time to slowly and lovingly simmer the sauce to build the meaty, indulgent flavor that it’s known for. In terms of what pasta to serve, I enjoy pappardelle bolognese, since the thick pasta is strong enough to withstand the robust sauce. Tube-shaped pasta like penne also works well. Save spaghetti and other skinny pasta for a thinner sauce. And if you’re in the mood for more rich Italian pasta recipes, then try my spaghetti sauce recipe, classic lasagna recipe, and baked rigatoni recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Soffritto — if you’ve ever made a French mirepoix, this is the Italian version! You’ll need finely chopped carrots, celery, and onion for the soffritto. This is the “holy trinity” of flavor-building, despite the humbleness of the ingredients! Garlic — while garlic is not a traditional component of this Italian sauce, I think it adds a lot of flavor and nuance to the sauce. Ground meat — I only use ground beef in this recipe but feel free to substitute some of it with ground pork or turkey, or even ground veal for extra dimension. Dry white wine — pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc are good options. Avoid sweet wine like riesling. Tomatoes — you’ll need a can of whole tomatoes as well as a small tin of tomato paste. I prefer San Marzano tomatoes. Bay leaf — bay leaves are another non-traditional ingredient that I think is a must for a flavorful bolognese sauce recipe. If you happen to have fresh bay leaves, you can use them, but I typically use dried bay leaves from the pantry. Milk — for the creamiest results, use whole milk. But 2% will work in a pinch! Set the milk out about 30 minutes before you use it so it comes to room temperature. If the milk is cold, it may curdle when it touches the hot pasta sauce. Pasta — I like using a long, thick pasta like pappardelle or tagliatelle, which are both substantial enough to manage the weight of the hefty ragù bolognese. Parmesan cheese — freshly grated parmesan is the perfect finishing touch to this pasta dish.
How to Make Bolognese
- Set a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Make the soffritto by adding the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. This will take about 7 minutes. Add the minced garlic, and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the ground beef. Brown for about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon and stirring frequently. Pour in the white wine and scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen any brown bits.
- Stir in the crushed whole tomatoes, tomato paste, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low and bring the mixture to a simmer. Partially cover and cook for 2 hours. Stir occasionally (I recommend setting a timer to stir every 20 to 30 minutes to prevent anything sticking to the bottom of the pot). Uncover the pot, and continue simmering and stirring occasionally for an additional 1 hour, or until thickened.
- Remove the bay leaf before slowly stirring in the room temperature milk. Once fully combined, add salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat and cover to keep warm.
- In the last 15 minutes or so of cooking time for the sauce, you can start cooking the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your chosen pasta according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Toss well to combine and serve immediately, topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese and chopped fresh herbs.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
Chop up the vegetables quite small. A good soffritto is the first step to create a memorable bolognese. After simmering for a few hours, the vegetables should be essentially dissolved into the sauce. To achieve this, and to avoid big chunks of vegetables, chop them up finely. You could also make use of a food processor to save time. Beware of over-processing onion, though, as you can end up with onion paste in the span of a few seconds! Use white wine. White wine adds brightness and acidity to the sauce, while cooking off fairly quickly. Red wine takes a much longer time to mellow out. Crush the tomatoes before adding them to the sauce. Whole canned tomatoes are the best option for a thick sauce, but you’ll need to help them break down by crushing them. Place them into a bowl and squeeze the tomatoes with a clean hand. Low and slow is the name of the game for this easy bolognese recipe. The sauce simmers for 3 hours, and a low heat will prevent the ingredients from sticking to the pot, while allowing a rich, deep flavor to develop for an authentic bolognese sauce. Cook the pasta when the sauce is almost ready. Start the pasta about 15 minutes before the sauce is done so it is ready to toss in immediately. Avoid thinner pasta varieties like spaghetti and angel hair pasta. While you may know and love spaghetti bolognese, spaghetti is a pretty flimsy pasta that might not be able to withstand the heft of a meat sauce like this.
If you’ve tried this bolognese recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
