Authentic Bolognese Sauce just like in Bologna
Bolognese Sauce
Prep 30 mins Cook 1:30 Eat 2:00
Proud of my Italian roots, I’ve been making an authentic Bolognese Sauce for years that I love. This year, our family travelled to Bologna, Italy and the surrounding food region. We rented an apartment in Modena during Easter week, cooked and tasted Italian food all week long. It was a spectacular vacation and we learned a lot. We took a tour of a Parmigiana Reggiano dairy and a Parma Ham factory in Parma. We tasted 12 and 30 year Balsamico vinegar in Modena. We learned the recipe for the delicious authentic Bolognese sauce used to toss our handmade tagliatelle we rolled out in a Bologna cooking class. I’m sharing it all.
Make a lot of this Authentic Bolognese Sauce for your freezer.
It turns out that the Bolognese Sauce I have been making for decades was spot on. Use a large soup or stock pot and feel free to double the recipe, because you will be glad to have this in your freezer all year long. One recipe makes about 5 quarts of Bolognese sauce.
Many people think that a Bolognese sauce is Marinara with some ground meat thrown in. WRONG! Actually, there are more vegetables in an authentic Bolognese Sauce than there is either tomatoes or ground meat. Follow my step-by-step instructions here.
Start with the Soffritto. The Vegetable Base
First start with the veggies. I start with onion, carrot, celery, parsley, garlic and pulse it fine in a food processor. This mixture called a soffritto goes into a large soup pot, where you cook the vegetables down in some olive oil. This forms the base of flavor in a delicious and authentic Bolognese sauce
Next you add the ground meat. I use half beef and half pork. I also add ham or pork products like Italian sausage or salami from my freezer. I grind them up in the food processor.
Next you add red wine. You can get fancy, but I add an inexpesive Cabernet Sauvignon. Let the wine meld with the meat and vegetable mixture together for a while.
Then add in a good quality stock and tomatoes. I use crushed tomatoes and tomato paste to round out the flavor profile of the Bolognese sauce. I use chicken stock because I always have home made stock in my freezer, but use your favorite stock/broth. The final addition is the herbs, I go heavy on dried oregano from my garden, thyme and dried basil and nutmeg. Also add salt and pepper to taste.
Once everything is combined and simmering, taste for seasoning. Do you want more salt or pepper? Keep it simple, as this will be your base for many recipes. If you make enough, it will get you through the winter or depending on your family, maybe enough for a month. Because it is so good! You will use it on the traditional tagliatelle, spaghetti, Lasagna Verde.
Bolognese Sauce in authentic Lasagna Verde is heavenly.
Lasagna Verde is a discussion for another time. This very special lasagna from Bologna is nothing like what Americans eat. It is layer upon layer of green fresh made spinach pasta sheets layered with the Bolognese Sauce, a creamy Balsamella sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese. We made it in the La Cucina Italiana cooking class I taught. It was epic!
The secret ingredient that creates a velvety texture.
So now you’ve been simmering the Bolognese Sauce for about an hour. Now you are going to do something magical. You add milk or cream and simmer it in. Not a lot, but look at the difference. It takes out the sharp acidity of the tomato, binds the liquids and meat together and rounds out the flavor of the Bolognese. Now you stop the cooking. The Bolognese is ready to eat. BUT, you really want to let the flavors marinate overnight.
Make extra Bolognese Sauce for your freezer.
At this point, I let the sauce cool and I distribute among my containers for the freezer, leaving some out for our next meal. The Bolognese sauce is like gold and ready for a special meal anytime. Just unthaw or pop it into a saucepan right from the freezer.
Tagliatelle: the traditional noodle for Bolognese Sauce
Treat yourself and make some fresh noodles like this traditional Tagliatelle here. Marry the noodles with the sauce. Add some of the pasta water before serving to get it saucy the way you like it.
Grate some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top. Eat like the Italians and Mangia Bene!
The tagliatelle lesson is for another time, but have a look at how to make fresh Italian pasta here with my step-by-step directions. Pumpkin Ravioli with Browned Butter & Sage Sauce. In our Italian pasta class, I learned to use “00” flour rather than all purpose flour in pasta and pizza making, which gives the pasta more elasticity and a tender, delicate bite.
Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 4 medium peeled carrots
- 4 stalks celery
- 8 cloves garlic
- 10 sprigs parsley
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 pound ground ham salami or Italian sausage
- 3 cups dry red wine
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 16 ounces tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups milk or light cream
Instructions
- In food processor with metal blade, process onion, carrots, garlic, celery and parsley until finely ground.
- In a large spaghetti pot, heat olive oil, saute vegetables over moderately high heat until golden, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the ground pork, beef and ham/Italian sausage/salami. Cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is browned.
- Stir in the wine, then the chicken stock and tomato products, along with the nutmeg, oregano, basil and thyme.
- Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced and thickened, about one hour or longer.
- Let cool slightly before stirring in the milk. You can serve the Bolognese sauce immediately over pasta or in your recipe. To enhance the flavor, let the pot marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Ladle remaining sauce into containers for the freezer.
- Yield: 6 quarts
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FRESHFOODINAFLASH.COM
Nutrition
Bolognese Sauce
This Bolognese Sauce is authentic to Bologna, Italy. It is traditionally mixed intoTagliatelle noodles. Americans like to serve this “meat sauce” on spaghetti noodles. It is also used in the traditional Lasagna Verde. The recipe will make 5-6 quarts and you may want to double the recipe to have a lot in your freezer. You can serve the sauce immediately after making it, but to enhance the flavor, let the pot marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Ladle the remaining sauce into containers for the freezer.
1 large onion
4 medium peeled carrots
4 stalks celery
8 cloves garlic
10 sprigs parsley
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground ham, salami or Italian sausage
3 cups dry red wine
3 cups chicken stock
2 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
16 ounces tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups milk or light cream
1. In food processor with metal blade, process onion, carrots, garlic, celery and parsley until finely ground.
2. In a large spaghetti pot, heat olive oil, saute vegetables over moderately high heat until golden, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the ground pork, beef and ham/salami/Italian sausage. Cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until it is browned.
4. Stir in the wine, then the chicken stock and tomato products, along with the nutmeg, oregano, basil and thyme.
5. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced and thickened, about one hour or longer.
6. Let cool slightly before stirring in the milk. You can serve the Bolognese sauce immediately over pasta or in your recipe. To enhance the flavor, let the pot marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Ladle remaining sauce into containers for the freezer.
Servings: 24 214 calories per serving
Yield: 6 quarts
So delicious and authentic, just like in Bologna