I’ve made this bolognese sauce recipe several times at home and for my pasta classes. It takes a couple of hours to make but it's so easy (and worth it)! I would pair the sauce with pappardelle, fettuccine, or linguini. Even better yet, make homemade lasagna! My fresh pasta from scratch recipe is perfect for all of these ideas.
❓ What is bolognese sauce?
Bolognese originated in the city of Bologna. Yes, it is a meat sauce and you can use it in spaghetti or fettuccine, but did you know it is the base sauce for lasagna?
Bolognese sauce is a meat sauce but is more meat than tomato. Meat sauce is a generalization of tomato sauce with meat in it. There are variations of bolognese and meat sauces too, Ragu anyone?
🥘 Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1 tablespoon Canola oil
- 1 Carrot, peeled and small diced
- 1 Small onion, small diced
- 1 Celery, small diced
- 5 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 3/4 cup Heavy cream
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 cup White white
- 15 ounce Can of diced tomatoes
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
🔪 Instructions
- Sweat the carrots, onion, and celery in butter and canola oil. Sweating means to cook in fat on low heat until the vegetable's liquid is evaporated making them tender and sometimes translucent.
- Add garlic and fennel. I like to add the garlic and fennel early on so they infuse with all of the ingredients.
- Add meat and season. As you cook the meat, make sure to brown it thoroughly and break it into small pieces.
- Add wine. Reduce until evaporated and the liquid in the pan is almost dry.
- Add tomatoes and bay leaf, or use my quick marinara sauce recipe.
- Add cream and bay leaf. Adjust seasoning.
- Reduce heat and simmer until thickened.
💭 Helpful Hints
- If your sauce becomes too thick or looks as though it’s drying out before you are ready to eat it, you can thin it out with a little water, vegetable or beef stock.
- Make sure you remove the bay leaf before serving.
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📋 Recipe
Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon Canola oil
- 1 Carrot, peeled and small diced
- 1 Small onion, small diced
- 1 Celery, small diced
- 5 garlic
- 1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
- 1 pound Ground beef
- 3/4 cup Heavy cream
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1/2 cup White white
- 15 ounce Can of diced tomatoes
- kosher salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat butter and oil in a stockpot or large skillet over moderate heat. Add carrot, onion, and celery. Sweat vegetables until soft.
- Add the garlic and fennel seeds.
- Add the ground beef with some salt and pepper. Cook the meat until all the red color has gone.
- Add the white wine and reduce until almost evaporated.
- Add tomatoes including its juice and stir into beef mixture. Simmer on low heat until thickened.
- Add the heavy cream and bay leaf. Adjust seasoning. Simmer until the cream has reduced by half and sauce has thickened.
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Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it turned out!