Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Serves 6
- 500 g (1.1 lb) ground beef (minced beef)
- 800 g (28 oz) whole peeled or crushed tomatoes (2 cans of 400 g / 14 oz each)
- 1 large carrot, cut into small dice
- 1 large stalk celery, cut into very small dice
- 1 onion, cut into small dice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 glass (200 ml / ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) red or white wine (or water)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil (for browning the meat and vegetables)
- Salt, pepper
- In a Dutch oven or a deep sauté pan, brown the ground beef over high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil (no more!), breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon. This lets the meat concentrate its flavor and release its water. Set aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then the onion, carrot and celery (all three cut into very small dice) and cook over medium heat until lightly golden.
Return the meat to the pot, season with salt, stir, then pour in the wine and let it evaporate, stirring all the while. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and season with pepper.
Turn the heat down to very low, cover and simmer for at least one hour, ideally two.
Tips and planning
Made the day before, this sauce is even better.
I recommend doubling the quantities so you can freeze one or two containers of bolognese sauce. You can pull one out on those days when you have neither the time nor the energy to cook, and have pasta, lasagna or cannelloni on the table in no time at all.
To get kids to eat their vegetables, you can hide 1 or 2 grated zucchini (courgettes) in there, and nobody will be the wiser!
Bolognese sauce goes 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 to have more liquid, because the lasagna sheets absorb it as they cook. You’ll end up with a sauce that looks more like this
