Bolognese Sauce
Bolognese sauce, or “ragù alla bolognese” is a hearty and flavorful and thick Italian meat sauce for pasta. It relies upon simple ingredients for its delicious flavor and texture – carrots, onions, celery, a combination of ground beef and pork, fresh herbs, a splash of heavy cream and red wine.
This recipe is reminiscent of Marcella Hazan’s original recipe. I took a few liberties in the ingredient structure, but it’s still delicious!
Ingredients
This rich meat sauce doesn’t require a lot of fancy ingredients. Sometimes simple is best.
Ground beef, ground Italian pork sausage, carrots, celery, onion, garlic cloves, tomato paste, tomatoes, nutmeg, heavy cream, basil (fresh or dried basil), red wine and Parmesan cheese for garnish. If you want a spicy twist to this recipe, add in a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
It may seem odd to add carrots to an Italian meat sauce, but believe it or not, the carrots add a tiny bit of sweetness. The hint of nutmeg provides a bit of a smoky flavor, resulting in a meaty red sauce to die for! The red wine gives a bit of substance and depth and further tenderizes the meat.
How to make it
The secret to making a really good bolognese sauce is to use high quality ingredients and organic carrots. Organic carrots offer a hint of sweetness to the bolognese sauce, more than conventional carrots.
Here are the basic steps for making this meaty pasta sauce. For detailed instructions, see Recipe card below.
- On medium heat, add olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven or large saucepan; add chopped vegetables and saute about 5 minutes
- Add the ground beef and ground pork to the vegetable mixture and cook on medium-high heat until completely browned; drain and return to pan
- Add tomato paste, red wine, garlic, nutmeg and bay leaves
- Add heavy cream. Cook until some of the liquid has evaporated then add in whole peeled tomatoes. Break them up with a wooden spoon into small pieces.
- Turn to medium low heat and cover; allow to simmer 45 minutes; before serving, season with kosher salt, ground black pepper and red pepper flakes (optional); remove dried bay leaves and season to taste; serve over your pasta of choice.
Recipe FAQ
Generally speaking, the primary difference between these two sauces is the inclusion or absence of liquid, usually in the form of beef broth. The only liquids in Bolognese sauce are milk (or cream), red wine and juice from the tomatoes. Traditional meat sauces are thinner and include beef broth or beef stock.
In terms of flavor, Bolognese sauce is a subtle Italian meat sauce due to the inclusion of carrots and milk. There aren’t a lot of overbearing Italian seasonings in the recipe and the hearty meat sauce sticks well to any kind of pasta!
Bolognese sauce can be ready in about 35 minutes, however, for the flavors to fully marry, let the rich, meaty tomato sauce simmer for at least 45 minutes. My favorite way is to cook it for an hour for a fully flavored bolognese sauce.
I always say, when cooking with wine, “use a wine you’d drink,” however, if you don’t drink wine, a nice red wine works well in this Bolognese sauce recipe. You might use a Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noir or a mild Red Blend.
The red wine does not need to be expensive, but a red cooking wine is not recommended simply because it doesn’t offer the same flavor profile as a non-cooking red wine.
If you prefer not to include any wine, the recipe will still be delicious!
If you don’t use all the ground beef for this mouth-watering Bolognese sauce, freeze leftover meat in the refrigerator to make a classic Southern meatloaf with old fashioned tomato sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef , lean ground beef (90/10)
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage , mild or spicy
- 2 tablespoons butter , salted or unsalted
- ½ cup milk or heavy cream , 2% or whole
- 1 tablespoon oil , canola, vegetable or Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- ⅔ cup chopped celery
- ⅔ cup chopped carrot
- 2 tablespoons garlic , chopped or minced
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 ( 28 oz. can) whole peeled tomatoes
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- ½ cup red wine (optional)
- Parmesan cheese grated (as garnish)
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil , chopped (for garnish-optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add oil and butter to large stockpot; add vegetables and saute for 6- 8 minutes2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon oil, ½ cup chopped yellow onion, ⅔ cup chopped carrot, ⅔ cup chopped celery
- Add ground beef and pork to the same stockpot; cook until beef and pork are browned (no visible pink) (See Recipe Notes: "Cook the Meat")1 pound ground beef, 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- Add minced garlic, red wine, tomato paste, pepper, nutmeg and bay leaves to stockpot; combine well then stir in milk or cream and cook 10-12 minutes or until evaporated. Add in tomatoes and their juice and break into smaller pieces.½ cup milk or heavy cream, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, 2 tablespoons garlic, 2 dried bay leaves, 3 ounces tomato paste, ½ cup red wine, 1 ( 28 oz. can) whole peeled tomatoes
- Cover and allow to simmer at least 30 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste; remove bay leaves; serve over cooked pasta; garnishwith fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon fresh basil
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Storage and reheating
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days; Freeze for up to six months. For best results, reheat on the stovetop in a heavy skillet; you may have to add a little water to the sauce as it thickens upon storage.
Suggestions for leftover Bolognese Sauce
If you have some meat sauce leftover, use it to make Lasagne or stuffed shells, like Cannelloni or Manicotti!
If you can’t get to Italy fast enough, make a big batch of this this traditional Bolognese sauce and serve with a crisp green Caesar salad and some warm bread! This will easily be your family’s favorite pasta dish or Sunday dinner!
OMG!!! This was amazing!! We all loved it! I appreciate how you separated the instructions. Bravo👏👏
Thank you for your kind comment! I’m glad you liked the Bolognese sauce recipe – hopefully, you had enough leftover to freeze for next time!
Excellent recipe, my husband who is not very culinarily adventurous -cleaned his plate and asked for seconds! I agree about the recipe layout, loved not having to scroll back and forth from directions to ingredient list. Definitely on the regular rotation!
Thank you! This Bolognese Sauce recipe is what I call “manly pasta” for the simple reason that men love this thick, hearty meat sauce!
Delicious pasta sauce for sure, but the way you wrote that recipe was genius! I didn’t have to scroll up to the top for my ingredients, losing my place. Excellent recipe all the way around!
Awww! Thank you, Katrina! I’m glad you enjoyed the Bolognese sauce and found the recipe easy to follow! 🙂
This is one of my favorites!!
I’m glad you like it!