Do you have a favorite, go-to dish to order when you are out to eat? Mine is Bolognese. Especially when I am trying a new restaurant for the first time. You may think that is boring, but to me, I can quickly find out the quality and patience of the chef by this dish. The hardest part about cooking in a restaurant is time, and this dish requires a lot of it for the sauce to be right. If a restaurant can nail that patience, I will be a frequent visitor!
Slow-cooked bolognese sauce is the definition of a meal made with love. Overall, it is super easy to make, but the biggest difficulty in the recipe is giving it enough time to let the flavors combine together. While it may seem silly to some, that is the magic. Letting this sauce slowly simmer for as long as you can.
There are a few times that patience is key in this one. First, it’s the reduction of the milk. This should take around 10-15 minutes (after you have cooked the meat and veggies). Next is the white wine; yes, I said that right, white Wine. This stage of reduction adds the necessary sugars to balance out the acid in the tomatoes. Can you add sugar? Sure. But then what will you sip when the sauce is simmering? Last is the sauce itself.
Once all that is done, you can do whatever you want with the sauce. Toss with some spaghetti, use it for lasagna, add to a baked potato, or even some mac and cheese!
As always, I will now walk through a few of the key ingredients and cooking tips to help you crush this meal and be the dinner time hero:
Ground Meat – This meal is best when you use a meatloaf mix. Meatloaf mix is an equal part combination of ground beef, ground pork, and ground veal. It is very easy to find in your butcher section at the grocery store!
Veggies – My measurements are estimates; if you want to add a little more carrots or onion, go for it! Just make sure they are finely chopped and don’t burn the garlic!
Wine – Most people think bolognese should be made with red wine, because it is a red sauce. Can you do that? Sure! It would be more like a ragu, but I won’t judge. If you want to make it traditional, white wine is the way!
See below for full measurements and cooking instructions!
If you make this, please leave a comment or rate the recipe below! Also, feel free to leave a comment with anything else you want me to make! I love putting my spin on classic recipes or creating new ones!
Equipment
- Large Pot
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp carrots
- 2 Tbsp celery
- 2 Tbsp shallot
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 lb meatloaf mix beef, veal, pork
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup white wine
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 lb spaghetti
- Grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Finely chop the carrots, celery, and shallot, and then mince the garlic.
- In your pot, add the butter and heat on medium.
- Once melted, add the carrots, celery, and shallot, and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
- Then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the ground meat and break into chunks.
- Season with some salt and pepper and cook mostly through.
- Add the milk and reduce completely until only fats remain.
- Add the white wine and reduce until very little liquid remains.
- Each should take 10-15 minutes.
- Then add the tomatoes and seasonings, and stir and cover.
- Cook for about 2-3 hours on low to let all the flavors slowly combine!
- Season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
- As you near dinner time, boil water and cook the pasta until al dente.
- Add pasta and grated parmesan cheese to the sauce and eat!
- Enjoy!
