Bolognese Sauce

Once you've made Bolognese sauce from scratch, you'll never go back to jarred sauces again. This simple, comforting sauce has been the favorite addition to pastas for centuries. Here are a few tips to consider when making your own.

The basic recipe of Bolognese sauce consists largely of beef stock, celery, carrots, onions, pork, beef, tomato paste and white wine. Milk is often used to bring out the flavors of the meat. You can use cream instead of milk if you want a fancier, richer texture. While whipping up a quick batch will do in a pinch, it's widely agreed that Bolognese sauce works best when simmered for several hours. This gives time for various spices and flavors to absorb. Some chefs even prefer refrigerating the sauce overnight and gently heating it again before serving.

When it comes to making Bolognese sauce, however, you're always free to tinker with the recipe. Feel free to experiment with different vegetable, meat, and spice combinations to create your own unique rendition. For a vegan recipe, try using soy crumbles instead of beef or pork and vegetable stock instead of beef stock. Don't be afraid to experiment with different meats either—chefs have used everything from succulent duck to rabbit in Bolognese sauce with successful results.

One of the ways you can experiment with different flavors is to use different spices on the vegetables and meat while they're cooking down. Many chefs prefer butter to cooking oils due to its rich taste. However, if you want something a bit less fattening, olive oil is a nice alternative. Feel free to cook down your vegetables using cloves of roasted garlic, pine nuts, or wine as well as spices such as pepper, salt, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, and others. These substances, when cooked down, do a wonderful job of soaking into the vegetables until the flavor can't be beat. Not everyone likes to sit and babysit the sauce pan for several hours, but chefs around the world agree that letting it cook slowly does the best job of bringing out the flavor.

Once your sauce is done, combine with your favorite pasta. This can include ziti, angel hair pasta, corkscrew pasta, spinach pasta, linguini noodles, manicotti, and several others. Whether you cook your pasta al dente or softer, your Bolognese sauce is sure to be an instant success. Combine with freshly grated Parmesan and your favorite garlic bread and you have a meal that can't be beat. Learn more today!