TRADITIONAL BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Cook low and slow for the best results
A Traditional Bolognese sauce is a rich, thick meat sauce that needs to cook for 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours! Trust me! I’ve had people say (and I do agree) that after 2 hours it does seem like it’s ready and it’s pretty good, but 4 is best.

•INGREDIENTS•
1 finely diced onion
2 finely diced carrot
2 finely diced celery
3 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped .

The combination of onion, carrot, and celery is called ‘soffritto’ and is the base for many Italian sauces.

1 ½ pounds (680 grams) 80/20 ground beef .

1 28 ounces good quality can tomato puree/passata .

beef stock or water you may or may not use it all, just depends on how long you decide to simmer .
2 tbsp tomato paste(optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup red wine or dry white wine.

* ½ teaspoon salt
* ¼ teaspoon black pepper( seasonings are very minimal in Bolognese. Only salt and pepper is used but I used a little oregano, red pepper and a bay leaf.)

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1. In a saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil.
2. Next add onion, carrot and celery to the saucepan and stir for about 5 minutes. Add garlic .
3. After about 10 minutes, add the ground meat and continue to cook down the liquid from the meat. Add salt and pepper and herbs.
4. Once the liquid has mostly add evaporated, add the wine and continue to stir the sauce.
(If you don’t want to use wine, substitute this with beef broth but is not the same )
5. When wine has mostly evaporated, add the tomato paste(optional ) and tomato purée. •• important : See step by step on stories)
6. Gradually decrease the heat to the lowest setting cover and let simmer for three to four hours (the mixture should not boil). Stir occasionally.
••It should look rich and creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
The more your cook your sauce, if you keep adding stock or water (little by little, tablespoons at at time) the better it will be.
It can simmer for up to 4 hours (again, think ‘stew’) but 2 hours in total will be enough for a good sauce.
•Best eaten with fresh pasta- recipe coming soon•