Bolognese Sauce
This Italian meaty sauce is my version of the classic. It is simply delicious, comforting and perfect as a dinner meal for four. Serve it with pasta or bread and you are good to go.
Equipment
- Large sauté pan with lid
- Spatula
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 50 gm Bacon chopped
- 3/4 cup Onions finely chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic finely chopped
- 1 cup Carrots finely chopped
- 1 cup Celery finely chopped
- 1 cup Leeks finely chopped
- 500 gm Beef mince
- 2 cups Milk check notes for substitutes
- 1/2 cup Red wine check notes for substitutes
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Dry herbs
- 1 1/2 cup Tomatoes chopped
- 2 cups Tomato puree/Passata
- 2 tsp Black pepper powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp Butter
To Serve
- 300 gm Tagliatelle pasta
- 5 tbsp Parmesan grated
Instructions
- In a sauté pan on medium heat add the bacon and let it render. While that is going we add the onions and garlic into the food processor and blend until fine. We don’t want a paste we want it coarsely ground. Once the fat has been rendered we add the onion mixture into he pan and stir around.
- While that is cooking we blend the carrots, celery and leeks together until coarse in the same food processor. After the onions have softened add the veggies and cook together with some olive oil until soft.
- Add the beef and increase the heat, season with salt and pepper. Fry this together until there is no liquid and the mixture is dry.
- Pour in the milk and cook until it evaporates. Add the wine/stock/water into the sauté pan and cook until there is no more liquid in the pan. Add the herbs, bay leaves, nutmeg, pepper and stir together. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir.
- Pour in the tomato puree/passata and mix well. Bring the mixture to a bubble, reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 15-20 mins until done. Take off the lid and add the butter. Stir together well.
- Cook your Tagliatelle as per the package instructions and serve the sauce with it. You can toss it together if you like or spoon it over the top like I did. I have also served this with bread and it is yummy yum yum.
- Garnish the top with parmesan cheese. If you like you can add chili flakes or fresh parsley.
Notes
- For the milk you can use half and half (milk and cream), skimmed milk or milk and water.
- Non Alcoholic - You can swap the red wine for beef stock, chicken stock or water.
- Tomatoes - If using freshly chopped tomatoes and fresh tomato puree, adjust the seasoning with sugar if needed as tomatoes can be a little sour for a well balanced flavor.
- You can serve the meat sauce with Tagliatelle, you could use Fettuccine or Rigatoni but it also works well with spaghetti, penne, fusilli and any pasta you have.