Our Best Simple Bolognese Sauce

Our Best Simple Bolognese Sauce

There are so many recipes out there for Bolognese sauce and with such a much loved traditional recipe, there is no wonder that so many variations of it available. Italians can be quite fierce in their opinions about what constitutes a proper Bolognese sauce; is milk added?...oregano? ...basil? ...other herbs? ..tomato sauce or tomato paste? Ask any of those questions and you are going to get answers...and probably lots of them. So, with so many differing opinions, I'm going to ignore most of them and give you our family's most loved Bolognese Sauce recipe.

The Bolognese Sauce that our family really loves concentrates on simplicity, slow cooking, modest seasoning and the approach that, even though it does contain tomatoes, it is a meat sauce and not a tomato sauce. Since I like to simmer my sauce for a long time to concentrate the flavor, I do not use tomato paste but canned San Marzano tomatoes, my favorite, which I puree in the blender. In addition to red wine, I also use some beef stock in order to allow for a longer simmering time and to deepen the rich beefy flavor of the sauce. This particular batch actually simmered very slowly for almost four hours, to be served as one of our most loved Sunday suppers. It is well worth the time. Serve with plenty of very good grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Our family's preference is the best Parmagiano Reggiano cheese we can find, freshly grated over the top. There is no such thing as too much.

This recipe produces a very thick, rich, intensely flavored sauce which we serve over tagliatelle, spaghetti or for my son Noah, almost always penne. Leftover sauce at our house can get used to make the absolute best lasagne or even Bolognese Sloppy Joes with some provolone cheese melted over the meat sauce and served on toasted crusty bread. I recommend you plan for leftovers, especially those sloppy Joes; they are so delicious!

Save your Parmesan rinds to add to Bolognese sauce.

Do you throw out the rinds from Parmesan cheese? Stop! Save them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer for the next time you make Bolognese sauce and drop 2 or 3 in as soon as the sauce begins to simmer. People will wonder what the secret is to your delicious Bolognese. Our motto here at Rock Recipes is "No flavor left behind!"

Our Best Bolognese Sauce

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Our Best Bolognese Sauce - This recipe produces a very thick, simply seasoned, rich, intensely flavored sauce. Delicious over any pasta, in lasagne or to make Bolognese Sloppy Joes!

Prep time: 1/2 hour
Cook time: 3 to 4 hours
Total time: 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours
Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 6 ounces finely diced pancetta or bacon
• 3 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 4 cups pureed canned tomatoes
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 3 cups low sodium beef stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 large bay leaves
• 2 large carrots, finely diced
• 3 celery sticks, finely diced
• 2 large onions, finely diced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 pounds fresh or dried pasta of your choice
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Cooking Directions

1. In a large dutch oven or small stock pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and chopped pancetta or bacon. Cook until the pancetta or bacon is almost crispy.
2. Add the onions, garlic, celery and carrots and cook until the onions have softened and begin to caramelize to a light brown color, stirring often.
3. Add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook until the beef is well browned.
4. Add the pureed tomatoes, wine, beef stock, milk and bay leaves. Stir.
5. Cover and bring to a slow simmer.
6. Simmer very gently, stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 hours. If you feel you need to add more beef stock, that's fine but you may want to turn down the heat if the liquid is boiling away too rapidly. A slow simmer is important here.
7. The liquid should be almost completely gone at the end and the meat sauce will be quite thick. Stir in the Parmesan or Romano cheese.
8. Serve over or tossed with cooked pasta topped with lots of freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

   

   Bolognese Sloppy Joes

Chorizo Spaghetti Bolognese

This is another comfort food recipe for me and one that I really enjoy as a winter warm-up dinner. The chorizo and bacon make for a very smoky sauce which I really love. The sauce can also be made ahead of time and just warmed up as the pasta cooks. Make the sauce this weekend for a welcome Monday workday dinner.

Serves 6
1 pound dry spaghetti pasta
Cook pasta in well salted water for 8-10 minutes.

4 strips smoked bacon, chopped in small pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small minced carrot
1 stalk finely chopped celery
½ cup minced red onion
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
4 ounces chopped hard chorizo sausage
3 cups low sodium beef broth
1 cup red wine
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tbsp dry oregano (or 3 tbsp fresh chopped oregano)
1 tsp crushed fennel seed
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt to season to taste
3 tbsp hot sauce (optional or to taste)
½ cup heavy cream (optional)

In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add the bacon and cook slowly over medium high heat to render the bacon to crisp. Drain off the bacon fat if you prefer, then add the butter, olive oil, carrot, celery, and red onion and cook until the onions are softened. Add the ground beef and chopped chorizo sausage and continue over medium heat until the beef is well browned.
Add all the remaining ingredients except the cream and simmer for about a half hour or more over gentle low heat. If adding cream, do so in the last 5 minutes of simmering the sauce.

Serve over the cooked pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan bread crumbs if desired.

Parmesan Bread Crumbs

1 ½ cups coarse bread crumbs
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp cracked black pepper
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Toss together the bread crumbs, parmesan, olive oil and pepper. Bake on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for about 5-10 minutes or until crunchy, tossing the crumbs occasionally as they bake.