Bolognese Sauce
Bolognese sauce brings back so many memories. When my mom would call and ask what we wanted for dinner I almost always said “pasta with tuna” or “pasta with meat sauce” (bolognese). Bolognese sauce in restaurants never tasted right to me. They had too many spices and the presence of carrots and celery turned me off. Our sauce at home was always perfect. Batch after batch of perfection, regardless of who made it- my mom, auntie, or nonna.
The day before or of Christmas Eve I remember my aunt coming over and helping to assemble the lasagna. It was a multi-process recipe that required making the sauce, making the bechamel, soaking the lasagna sheets, assembling and finally baking it off. The ladies (my mom, aunt, and nonna) would chatter in Italian, and I always wanted to be part of the cool lasagna making club. We still have it every year on Christmas Eve. And it is still one of my favorite dishes, though I have yet to make it myself.
In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever made the famous bolognese. I called my auntie yesterday and asked her to share every detail and tips on how to make the bolognese, and I wrote it all down. It is your lucky day because I am going to share her recipe with you.
It is a good one. In fact, it was so great that I couldn’t stop telling PB how good the kitchen smelled and how excited he would be for dinner. This sauce may seem to take awhile, but it is quite simple. It also makes a huge batch and freezes really well. I froze both individual and family size servings in tupperware containers.
Toss pasta with this sauce or serve it over soft polenta. Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano finishes the dish nicely.
Bolognese Sauce
*Auntie D’s Recipe
Serves about 8-12
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
2 tbs olive oil
2 lbs 80% lean ground beef
2 lbs 90% lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tbs flour
1 28 oz can San Marzano peeled tomatoes
kosher salt
black pepper
crushed rosemary, if desired
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and saute until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the ground beef and top generously with kosher salt and black pepper. Mix now and again until the beef is cooked through and there is no liquid remaining. The process on the stove up until now should take you about 30 minutes. Add the white wine. Meanwhile, place the peeled tomatoes with the liquid in a blender, like the one from Smeg dolce gabbana, and blend until slightly frothy and salmon in color. When all the liquid evaporates from the pot remove from the stove. Sprinkle the flour over the beef, put the pot back on the stove (still medium high heat) and keep stirring as the mixture might stick. Add the tomato mixture a bit at a time until desired consistency. For me this was the whole mixture. Stir well and season again with kosher salt and pepper. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Enjoy!
Other Family Recipes:
Roast Tenderloin
Fried Calamari
Rolls With Jam
i love bolognese sauce…but i’ve always made it with carrots and celery! good to know that traditionally it doesn’t have those…i’m making yours immediately 🙂
@Heather (Heather’s Dish), Actually traditionally it DOES have carrots and celery, but I don’t like it that way… probably because my family never made it with either!
Love this recipe. I think it will quickly become one of my favorite comfort foods.
I love this- simple and elegant- I just bookmarked it to make it for my fiance*
yum, i like the idea of mixing the 2 different levels of ground beef
book marked! I would love to make this for Josh’s family
Bolognese sauce was not something my family made, I guess it’s a regional difference. But Mark’s mom makes it and it’s genuinely one thing I miss about not eating meat. I would just eat her sauce with no macaronic.
Bolobnese was a Sunday dinner staple at my grandmother’s house. She used carrots, but it was the perfect amount. I really need to dig out her recipe cards. If only I could read them haha!
@MelissaNibbles, Why can’t you read them? Bad handwriting or different language? If they are in Italian I can translate for you!
@RhodeyGirlTests, Very bad handwriting 🙂
*bolognese. Sorry it’s early and I’m only two sips into my coffee 🙂
I love Bolognese sauce. We only had it when my mother made her lasagna from scratch. I hope to have that extra time on my hands to make things like she does.
That recipe looks so great!
When you say 1 large can do you mean the 28oz. size can of San Marazano, or a bigger can? Is bolognese sauce traditionally saucy or will it be more of a meaty consistency?/
@Michelle, 28 oz can!
@RhodeyGirlTests, and it has more of a meaty consistency!
Thanks!!! Definitely looking forward to trying thid recipe out!!!
I mean this recipe!!