One of my favorite basic recipes in the world must be Spaghetti Bolognese. Now you can do this recipe the easy way by tossing in some onions, tomato sauce, and minced beef. OR, you can do this the real pro way, by adding a bit of milk, stock, even a bit of wine if you choose, and simmer for that full complex ristorante flavor! That savory flavor punch is the recipe that we’re going for today.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Simmer (optional): up to 3 hours
Ingredients
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olive oil or vegetable oil
4 tablespoons butter
½ chopped onion (finely diced)
⅔ chopped carrot (finely diced)
170g ground beef
1 cube vegetable or beef stock
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 cup milk
1 cup cherry tomatoes or tomatoes (chopped)
1 cup tomato puree
400g spaghetti
parmesan cheese (grated, for serving)
Instructions
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Brown the onions until they are slightly translucent, and then toss in the diced carrots.
- Once the carrots have softened a bit, add in the ground beef, and cook it’s completely brown and there are no traces of red.
- Pour in one cup of milk into the mixture and let it simmer (I transferred this part to a pot to avoid the milk from boiling over.) Wait until the milk completely evaporates. Full disclosure: this can take up to 30 minutes, but the added creamy flavor is so worth it! Just grab a book or listen to an audiobook while you’re waiting.
- For additional flavor, add 1 cup of red or white wine to the mix after the milk has evaporated. Wait until the wine completely evaporates as well.
- Finally, add 1 cup of chopped tomatoes with the tomato sauce, and the vegetable or beef stock. For busy chefs, you can serve the sauce once the mixture begins to bubble and when there is no more watery liquid floating on top of the surface. However, for a fuller, more complex flavor, I’d recommend simmering the sauce for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 hours. If you do decide to simmer your sauce, simmer in a large pot, and cook your pasta while waiting. If the sauce dries up before you’re ready to serve it, you can add ½ cup of leftover pasta water to prevent sticking to the bottom.
- Serve your bolognese sauce generously over spaghetti and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bon appetito!
