Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Serves 6
- 500g (1 lb) ground beef
- 800g (28 oz) peeled or crushed tomatoes (two 14 oz cans)
- 1 large carrot, diced small
- 1 large celery stalk, diced very small
- 1 onion, diced small
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 glass red or white wine (or water)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (for browning meat and vegetables)
- Salt, pepper
- In a large pot or sauté pan, brown the ground beef over high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil (no more!) breaking up the chunks with a wooden spoon. This will help the meat concentrate its flavor and release its water. Set aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then add the onion, carrot and celery (all diced very small) and sauté over medium heat until lightly colored.
Return the meat to the pot, add salt, mix well then pour in the wine and let it evaporate while continuing to stir. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, and pepper.
Lower the heat to very low and simmer covered for at least one hour, ideally two.
Tips and Organization
Made the day before, this sauce will be even better.
I recommend doubling the recipe so you can freeze one or two jars of bolognese sauce. You can pull it out on days when you don’t have time or energy to cook and make pasta, lasagna or cannelloni in no time flat.
To sneak vegetables into kids’ meals, you can hide 1 or 2 grated zucchini in there - they’ll never know!
Bolognese sauce pairs beautifully with long pasta like tagliatelle, bucatini or spaghetti because they hold the sauce well.
- If you want to make lasagna, you’ll need to add another can of tomatoes for more liquid since the pasta will absorb it while baking. Your sauce will then look more like this:
