Bolognese

Bolognese sauce – the staple of Italian cuisine, where basic, everyday ingredients cook low and slow to transform into a rich, hearty sauce. Perhaps the best part is that it’s so versatile; I use ground beef and add lots of vegetables for flavour, but you can adapt this recipe to your own taste.

Servings

8 Servings

PREP TIME

40 mins

COOK TIME

1.5 hours

TOTAL TIME

2 hours 10 mins

Difficulty

Easy

Wine pairing

Cabernet blend, Merlot

Ingredients
 3 tbsp olive oil
 20 g butter
 1 kg beef mince
 6 garlic cloves, crushed
 1 onion, diced
 3 carrots, diced
 4 celery sticks, diced
 150 g mushrooms, diced
 120 g spinach, roughly chopped
 1 beef stock cube
 1 cup white wine
 120 g tomato paste
 700 ml passata
 3 x 400g canned tomatoes
 ¼ cup dried mixed Italian herbs
 ½ tsp salt
 1 tsp pepper
 ½ cup milk or cream (optional)
 ¼ tsp chilli powder (optional)
 pasta, to serve
 grated parmesan, to serve
Ingredients
 3 tbsp olive oil
 1.50 tbsp butter
 2 lbs beef mince
 6 garlic cloves, crushed
 1 onion, diced
 3 carrots, diced
 4 celery sticks, diced
 5 oz mushrooms, diced
 4 oz spinach, roughly chopped
 1 beef stock cube
 1 cup white wine
 4 oz tomato paste
 3 cups passata
 3 x 14 oz canned tomatoes
 ¼ cup dried mixed Italian herbs
 ½ tsp salt
 1 tsp pepper
 ½ cup milk or cream (optional)
 ¼ tsp chilli powder (optional)
 pasta, to serve
 grated parmesan, to serve
  • I prefer beef mince, but other popular varieties are pork, veal, turkey or a combination of these.
  • Onion, carrot and celery are the classic base for a sauce, which is known as ‘soffritto’ in Italy. Mushrooms and spinach are entirely optional, but they’re a nice way to sneak extra vegetables in. I have also used capsicum, zucchini and eggplant in the past.
  • For the canned tomatoes, you can use any type you like. I usually use a mixture of diced, puree and whole cherry tomatoes for different textures.
  • White wine and milk are both traditional Italian ingredients (depending on which region the recipe is from). I personally don’t think red wine adds as much flavour, but you can replace the wine with beef stock or water if you prefer. The milk rounds out the acidity of the tomatoes, without making the dish taste creamy. I highly recommend it, but it is optional. 
  • If you have fresh herbs on hand, grab a few sprigs each of varieties such as basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary and sage, tie them together with cooking twine and add them when you add the tomatoes. Remove and discard the ‘bouquet garni’ at the end of cooking, just before adding the spinach and milk.

Jump to Directions

Variations

Save some of the sauce to use in lasagne. Or, try the older, more mature brother to bolognese – slow cooked beef ragu. 

Directions

1

Prep the ingredients

1. Finely dice or chop the:

  • Onion
  • Garlic
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Mushrooms
  • Spinach.

Tip: I usually do this step the day before, to reduce effort and time on the night of cooking. Store chopped vegetables covered in the fridge until required.

2

Make the bolognese

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Then add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about  5 minutes.

2. Add the butter and the mushrooms, stir and cook for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms have browned.

3. Add the beef mince and cook until it has turned brown, breaking it apart with a spatula. 

Tip: It’s easier to break apart the mince when it’s browned.

4. Add the wine and cook for a minute or two, until it has mostly evaporated. 

5. Add the beef stock cube, tomato paste, passata, tinned tomatoes, herbs, salt, pepper and chilli powder, and stir until everything is mixed together well. 

6. Bring the bolognese to a gentle simmer over low heat, and place a lid on the pot slightly ajar so that some steam can escape. Cook for at least  1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Tip: You can cook the bolognese for several hours over low heat to really let the flavours develop, but you must stir frequently so the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. If it does stick, don’t attempt to scrape it off as it will ruin the flavour (the rest of the sauce is still fine!).

7. Turn off the heat and add the spinach and milk, and stir through. Serve the bolognese over freshly cooked pasta (spaghetti or pappardelle are traditional, but I think all pasta shapes work well with bolognese).

Wine pairing

Like most other rich, red Italian sauces, Sangiovese (another Italian classic) will pair well with bolognese. As will any other medium-bodied red variety. 

If you want to drink the white wine that you used in the sauce, then I recommend using a lightly oaked Chardonnay as the buttery characteristics can make the sauce taste softer and more velvety.