The Best Bolognese Sauce Recipe

A Great Sauce, Especially in the Winter

This is one of my favorite pasta meals. It’s easy and you can play around with it by adding different ingredients.

Once made it’s like money in the bank…. eat it the same night or deposit it in the freezer and when withdrawn, the taste pays off dividends.

Sometimes when I know I won’t be around all day (like when I am skiing in a foot of fresh powder) I make it in a crock pot and let it cook all day. When you walk in the door and the smell hits you, Wow!

It’s usually made with beef, but I like to mix beef and veal or beef and lamb to give it a real “peasant” taste. Let me know what you think.

Reluctant Gourmet’s Tips

• Try using all chopped veal or lamb for a stronger flavor.
• Never cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink.
• Puree the tomatoes right in their can with a hand blender.
• Check out my tips on sauté and deglazing.
• Try using carrots instead of sugar to sweeten your sauces.

One of Italy’s great sauces, this long, slow cooking meat sauce combined with penne pasta is a perfect comfort food. How can you go wrong when you combine beef, veal, and pork with aromatic vegetables?

Create your own recipe by adding your own favorite ingredients like mushrooms, capers or olives. Finish the dish with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Print Recipe

Bolognese Sauce Recipe

One of my top 10 favorite recipes.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr 45 mins

Total Time2 hrs

Course: Sauces

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground veal or lamb
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup red wine
• 2 carrots peeled and sliced
• 16 oz whole tomatoes with/ juice
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 pound penne pasta
• Parmesan cheese for grating on top

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• In a large sauce pot, brown the chopped beef and (veal or lamb), drain fat and reserve meat for later.
• In the same pot, sauté onion and garlic in the olive oil & butter until the onions are translucent.
• Deglaze the pan with wine and reduce by half.
• Puree the whole tomatoes and add them to the pot along with the sliced carrots and reserved meat.
• Simmer for about 1½ hours.

  (If the sauce become too dry add a little water or chicken stock)
• Salt and Pepper to taste.
• In a big pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta al dente.
• Serve sauce over pasta with grated cheese.

Notes

Of course you'll want to have plenty of French or Italian bread to sop up any leftover sauce and be sure to enjoy a great bottle of red wine with this meal.