My everyday Bolognese recipe I make over and over again. This Meat Sauce has terrific depth of flavour for such a quick recipe – though if you have the time, it’s stellar cooked slowly for a couple of hours. My 3 “secret” tips are: Worcestershire Sauce, Beef Bouillon Cubes and a touch of sugar.
PREPARATION TIME
Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves , minced
1 onion , finely chopped (brown, yellow or white)
1 lb / 500g beef mince (ground beef) OR half pork, half beef (Note 1)
1/2 cup (125 ml) dry red wine (sub water or beef broth/stock)
2 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled OR granulated beef bouillon (Note 2)
800g / 28 oz can crushed tomato (or tomato passata)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp white sugar , if needed (Note 3)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 dried bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme or oregano)
Salt and pepper
TO SERVE
400 g / 13 oz spaghetti , dried
Parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
TOSSING SAUCE AND SPAGHETTI (OPTIONAL, NOTE 4)
Recipe Notes:
2. Beef stock cubes – I use Oxo Beef Cubes (Woolies & Coles). Use any beef bouillon / stock cube or in powder form (called “granulated beef bouillon” in some countries).
If using a powder, use 2 tsp (ie 1 tsp per 1 cube).
3. Canned tomato – Mid range canned tomato can be notoriously sour. A touch of sugar makes an incredible difference. The amount required will depend on how sweet / sour the tomatoes and tomato paste is – go by taste. Typically, the better the quality, the less sour they are so the less sugar you will need.
4. Tossing pasta sauce – See commentary in post about emulsifying the pasta sauce. This is the “proper” Italian way to cook pastas, and the way pasta is served in restaurants.
5. Slow simmer option – this is how you take a great bolognese to an incredible one that would make your Italian Nonna proud. The key here is ultra low heat – after bringing to simmer, lower heat so the surface is just gently rippling, with a few bubbles here and there. Once the lid has been on for a while, take a peek to check – because it gets hotter with the lid on. I use my smallest burner on the lowest setting.
6. Other notes:
* Scaling recipe up (use auto recipe scaler) – If you double the recipe (or more!), then brown the beef in batches. If you try to cook it in one batch, you will end up stewing it rather than browning!
* Slow cooker: This is really fantastic made in a slow cooker! The meat becomes so tender and the sauce has incredible flavour. At step 3, cook until the wine liquid disappears completely, then transfer it into the slow cooker at step 4 and cook for low for 6 hours.
* Variations: Here are some ideas for ways to take this up a notch, if you are so inclined!
– Finely chop 1 carrot + celery and saute that with the onion to make a softrito. Cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes for extra amazingness!
– Add finely chopped bacon (smokey is the ultimate!) or pancetta, cook with the onion
– 1 tbsp soy sauce (my mother did this, I sometimes do! I’ve seen it in some chef recipes)
– Fresh or dried red chilli
– Bolognese gets better the longer it is cooked, and it’s even better the next day!
7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings, including pasta.
NUTRITION INFORMATION:
