Spaghetti Bolognese
Bolognese (Italian) or Bolognaise (French) is a meat based pasta sauce flavoured with a small amount of tomatoes or tomato paste. This dish originated in Bologna, Italy and it dates back since the 15th century. Old versions of this dish barely use tomatoes and it was just added in the modern versions of this dish, Italian’s do also use a wider type of noodles like Tagliatelle or lasagne which makes the heavy sauce hold up easily. The use of Spaghetti on the other hand is the popular Bolognese pasta outside of Italy.
Having said that the base of this dish usually is soffrito rather than a thick tomato sauce, where a mix of vegetables like celery, onions, and carrots are sautéed and browned in olive oil and butter. Then finished with a dash of milk, some white wine and tomato paste to create this rich meaty concoction.
For this post I will not be making it the Italian way so it will contain lots of tomatoes, I just love the sweet and tangy flavours of tomatoes.
- 400 g spaghetti, cooked according to packet instructions
- 500 g premium beef mince
- 100 g pancetta, finely chopped
- 2 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 250 ml red wine
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 1 large white onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- handful fresh basil, roughly torn
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 pcs bay leaves
- olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- shaved parmesan, to garnish
- Place a good amount of olive oil in a large sauce pan.
- Add chopped pancetta and fry until crispy.
- Reduce heat then add onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes while constantly stirring.
- Turn heat to high then add the minced beef, cook until meat is browned all over.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, fresh basil, dried oregano and bay leaves simmer in low heat for an hour. Stir occasionally to prevent the bottom from burning.
- Add the parmesan, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper then mix to combine well.
- Pour sauce on top of spaghetti then serve with shaved parmesan cheese.
Delicious. I love your recipe, the addition of pancetta is brilliant. 🙂
I could go for some beef now. Of course poultry is on the menu all next week!
An oldie but a goodie with a couple of nice twists – yuumm
Oh yes, lots of ground beef and that’s how I like my spaghetti. 🙂
This is the time of year that I love making a bolognese. This looks like a fantastic recipe! Love the use of the pancetta.
Thick and delicious. This dish always is so comforting and hearty. Have a super week.