Bolognese: One Sauce, 13 Meals (and counting)
There are likely as many versions of Ragu Bolognese, the classic Italian meat sauce, as there are cooks in Italy. If you search ‘bolognese’ on Google, there are 19 million hits. So why add another one, you may ask? Because — as with chocolate cake — you cannot have too much of a good thing.
Inspired by: Classics that never go out of style.
And here’s my take, cooked long and slow for the flavours to fully develop. It actually tastes even better the next day. Make a big batch and you’ll have dinner options for the week. This sauce goes with just about anything:
- with spaghetti (or any kind of pasta)
- in a lasagne
- as a ravioli or tortellini filling
- on Sloppy Joes
- on polenta
- on a pizza
- in a calzone
- topped on nachos
- in a pie
- on mashed potatoes
- on a baked potato
- in a pita pocket
- with cous cous
What else can you use this for?
Bolognese di Susanna
Italian has such a lovely ring to it. Printable version below.
- 2 lbs ground beef, lean/medium
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
- 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (see tip)
- fleur de sel or kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- quarter of a lemon
- rind of parmesan or grane padano
- 2 bottles of passata (Italian strained tomatoes)
Heat the olive oil in a solid pot over medium high heat, add the ground beef and stir.
Freshly ground beef, from the butcher, not the supermarket plastic wrapped stuff. See the nice colour? In many butcher shops in France you have to ask the butcher to grind the meat for you, nothing is pre-ground, and you can choose the cut of beef. Now that’s fresh.
Glorious onions. I use yellow cooking onions a lot, but also enjoy experimenting and tasting the different kinds, like the red and white ones here. Sweet Vidalia onions are delicious in salads and regular boiler onions are great for onion jam.
How to mince garlic without a press
Simply chop the garlic as fine as you can, sprinkle with some coarse salt such as fleur de sel or Kosher, then lay the knife blade sideways and drag over the garlic. The salt acts as an abrasive and helps to soften the garlic so the juices come out. As Anthony Bourdain tells us in Kitchen Confidential:
“garlic that has been tragically smashed through one of those abominations, the garlic press, are all disgusting. Please treat your garlic with respect.”
Respect. As any fresh local vegetable deserves.
Once the beef is browned, add the onions and cook for another 10 minutes over medium high heat, stirring every so often, throwing in the garlic for the last 2 minutes. Then add the cheese rind and lemon. Old cheese is magic in sauces.
That crack in my trusted Le Creuset is only getting bigger, sad to say, but the pot still keeps on cooking. As do I.
Pour in the tomatoes, stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for at least half an hour, preferably 1 full hour. You can have a small bowl for lunch and adjust the seasoning, then save the rest for tomorrow’s dinner.
The sauce freezes well too, once cool, put in freezer bags and flatten — it will thaw much quicker when you need them.
Enjoy! And tell me how you did!
- 2 lbs ground beef, lean/medium
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large white onion, roughly chopped
- 1 large red onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (see tip)
- fleur de sel or kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- quarter of a lemon
- rind of parmesan or grane padano
- 2 bottles of passata (Italian strained tomatoes)
- fresh oregano (optional)
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the beef and cook through, stirring.
- Once the beef is browned, add the onions and cook for another 10 minutes over medium high heat, stirring every so often.
- Add the minced garlic for the last 2 minutes.
- Then add the cheese rind and lemon. Old cheese is magic in sauces.
- Pour in the tomatoes, stir well, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let the sauce simmer for at least half an hour, preferably 1 full hour. You can have a small bowl for lunch and adjust the seasoning, then save the rest for tomorrow's dinner.
- The sauce freezes well too, once cool, put in freezer bags and flatten -- it will thaw much quicker when you need them.
Comments
- Share Your Cooking Passion - - […] they’ve seen what goes into my various versions of bolognese and have thus tasted their way through many a…
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Samantha
February 5, 2016
Love the the freezing tip! This small tips will help space in freezer but also time to thaw!