This is a hit with the family and goes great with some bucatini and a glass of vino. Since this recipe makes enough for multiple meals it’s great to freeze and store for another pasta night or baked in a lasagna. This is a meat sauce based loosely on different recipes from a bunch of cookbooks. While not a traditional bolognese, it’s sure tasty.
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EASY MEAT SAUCE (BOLOGNESE)
Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy12
servings10
minutes40
minutesSet aside an afternoon to make this recipe. On the bright side, this will make your house smell amazing! This recipe can be made as fancy or as basic as you desire. I’ve made the recipe with just beef (I recommend 85/15) and it turned out great, but you could substitute a pound of ground veal if you can find it for extra silly texture. You could use San Marzano tomatoes or you could use standard grocery store tomatoes. Again it’s up to you how fancy you want to get.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 large onion
3 pounds ground meat (all beef or beef and lamb combination)
1 cup white wine
1 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 (28 ounce) cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Put carrot, celery, onion and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not mush.
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the vegetables with salt and pepper and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes
- Place the ground meat in the pot and using a masher incorporate the meat into the vegetables. Make sure to not leave any large pieces of meat. Cook until no longer pink, but not browned.
- Add the wine to the pot, stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the milk and nutmeg, stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the two cans of tomatoes and using a potato masher break up the tomatoes.
- Reduce heat to a simmer cover and cook the sauce for at least 2 hours and up to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large pieces of tomatoes and meat that may still remain.
- Turn off the heat and let settle for 10 minutes. Skim off any excess fat. Check for seasoning and then stir in the cheese. This recipe makes about 10-12 cups of sauce which is enough for 3 meals.
Notes
- Equipment: Food processor
