The best bolognese recipe

Well, that was unexpected…

Hello!

It’s been ages since I’ve felt like writing anything here. Yesterday I felt the urge again. So here I am! I have a few unfinished post series I want to eventually complete. It can get a tiring always writing about technical things so I’m going to mix it up from time to time.

My wife and I have been enjoying this bolognese recipe for years. If you like an intense sauce, this one’s for you. I’m going to write a variation of it in a no-nonsense way. Here we go!

Buy

• 1 carrot
• 1 small onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 500 grams of your preferred minced meat. I normally go with straight-up beef.
• 100 grams of pancetta
• Unsalted butter
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Tomato paste
• 400 gram tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• At least 100 ml of beef stock
• Red wine
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 375 grams of fresh fettuccine or pappardelle.

Most importantly - no celery. I hate celery!

Prepare

• Dice onions
• Dice carrots
• Mince garlic clove
• Dice pancetta into small cubes
• Grate some Parmigiano-Reggiano. You’ll be sprinking this on top of your portions.

Cook

• Get a medium sized pot. Put it on low-medium heat.
• Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 50 grams of butter to pot.
• Once butter is melted, add your panchetta cubes. Cook them until golden.
• Add onions, carrots, garlic clove and bay leaf to the pot. Cook until onions turn translucent.
• Add minced meat. Break it up and season with pepper. Cook until meat is coloured.
• Turn up heat to high. Give it a few minutes to heat up.
• Add red wine. Let it cook for a few minutes until smell of alcohol disappears.
• Reduce heat to low-medium.
• Add 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, the whole tin of chopped tomatoes and 100 ml of beef stock to the pot.
• If you have the time, let the sauce cook for 1 hour. Add a little bit of water if the sauce is drying out. If you’re in a rush, cook until sauce is thickened to your liking.
• Remove sauce from heat and let it rest for 5 mins.
• About 15 mins before your sauce is done, fill the largest pot you can find with water and bring it to a boil. Salt the water heavily once boiling. Cook your pasta to your liking.

Serve

• Strain pasta. Return it to the large pot it was cooked in.
• Pour sauce into the large pot with pasta and mix.
• Serve with heaps of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Done!

Justin