Bolognese Sauce Recipe
The best bolognese sauce recipe you'll find, at least from someone who is not Italian, let alone a Nonna!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp butter 3 tbsp for sauce; 1 tbsp for pasta
- 1/2 cup chopped scallion onion substitute is fine
- 2/3 cup chopped celery
- 2/3 cup chopped carrot
- 1 pound ground beef Should be at least 85% lean, 15% fat
- salt
- black pepper
- 1 cup almond milk whole milk is more traditional, but this is healthier and doesn't sacrifice taste!
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup dry white wine I like dry riesling from Austria
- 2 1/4 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes
- 1 1/2 pounds pappardelle pasta tagliatelle, penne, and rigatoni work too
- parmigiano-reggiano freshly grated
Instructions
- Add the oil, butter, and chopped scallion to a large pot. Turn heat to medium. Cook and stir the scallion until it's translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for ~2 minutes, stirring consistently.
- Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Separate the meat with a fork (avoid meatballs!), stir well, cooking until the beef has has turned grayish.
- Add almond milk and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add about ⅛ teaspoon of nutmeg and stir.
- Add the wine, simmering until it has evaporated. Next, add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes bubble, turn the heat down so the sauce cooks at the "laziest of simmers", with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring occasionally. While the sauce is cooking, it may dry out, with the fat separating from the meat. To avoid, add ½ cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Keep that beautiful fat in the sauce, mixing it in at the end. Taste and correct for salt.
- Toss the cooked drained pasta with a tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side. No herbs needed!