Ricardos Bolognese Sauce Recipes

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, warm oil over medium heat and saute bacon, onion and garlic until bacon is browned and crisp; set aside.
• In large saucepan, brown beef and pork. Drain off excess fat. Stir in bacon mixture, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, stock, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Serve sauce over hot pasta.

MOM'S SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until cooked through yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes; drain.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon in the oil until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the onion, celery, carrot, and oregano into the bacon; continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften, another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Crumble the ground beef into the vegetable mixture; cook and stir until the beef is completely cooked and no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Pour the balsamic vinegar over the ground beef mixture; allow to simmer until the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar into the ground beef mixture; bring the mixture to a boil, season with salt and black pepper, and remove from heat. Stir the fresh basil into the mixture.
• Ladle the sauce over the cooked spaghetti. Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

HOW TO MAKE BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Melt butter with olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; cook onion, celery, and carrot with pinch of salt until onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir ground beef into vegetables and cook, stirring constantly until meat is crumbly and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Season meat mixture with 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.
• Pour milk into ground beef mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, until most of the milk has evaporated and bottom of pan is still slightly saucy, about 5 minutes.
• Raise heat to medium high and pour white wine into ground beef mixture; cook and stir until white wine has mostly evaporated, about 5 more minutes.
• Pour tomatoes with juice into a large mixing bowl and crush them with your fingers until they resemble a slightly chunky sauce. Pour tomatoes into sauce; fill can with 2 cups water and add to sauce. Bring to a simmer.
• Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until mixture cooks down into a thick sauce, at least 3 hours but preferably 4 to 6 hours. Skim fat from top of sauce if desired. If sauce is too thick or too hot on the bottom, add a little more water. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.

RICARDO'S BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, brown the pancetta in oil.
• Add veggies and garlic. Cook a few minutes.
• Add meat and break with spoon at high heat until cooking juice has evaporated.
• Add wine and let reduce by half.
• Add milk and let simmer slowly 5 minutes.
• Add remaining ingredients and keep cooking at low heat for about 2 hours. Serve the sauce on pasta.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over high heat until smoking hot. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the oil. Add the ground beef and Italian sausage, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, and cook until brown, about 10 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Transfer the browned-meat mixture to a strainer and discard the fat.
• Add the heavy cream to the drippings in the skillet and cook, scraping up the brown bits with the wooden spoon, until reduced by one quarter, 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve. Transfer the meat to a large pot. Add the Pasta Sauce and heavy cream mixture, bring to a simmer and cook until the flavors have melded, about 30 minutes.
• Combine the whole peeled tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, basil, carrot, oregano, onion and garlic in a large saucepan and pulse with an immersion blender. Bring the sauce to a simmer and stir in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Simmer until the carrots are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

VERY PERSONAL BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Crumble the ground beef into a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring to break up large chunks, until no longer pink. Drain off excess grease. Mix in the tomato paste, harissa and Worcestershire sauce until blended. Stir in the tomato sauce and garlic; reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Stir in the mascarpone cheese, and simmer for another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, and season with dried basil.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat in a large heavy-bottomed pot: 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Add: 2 ounces pancetta, diced fine.
• Cook over medium heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add: 1 small onion, diced fine, 1 celery stalk, diced fine, 1 carrot, diced fine, 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, 5 sage leaves, 2 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 12 minutes.
• While the vegetables are cooking, heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan, preferably cast iron: 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Add and brown over medium-high heat, in two batches: 1 pound skirt steak, cut into 1/8-inch cubes, 4 ounces pork shoulder, coarsely ground.
• Cook until the meat is a nice chestnut color. Once all the meat is browned, pour in: 1 cup dry white wine.
• Reduce the wine by half, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the browned meat and the deglazing juices to the tender vegetables with: 2 tablespoons tomato paste, Salt.
• Measure and stir together: 2 cups beef or chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups milk.
• Pour enough of this liquid into the pot to bring it to the level of the meat and vegetables. Simmer gently until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. As the liquid reduces, keep topping it up with the rest of the broth and milk, and skimming the fat that rises to the surface.
• When the meat is tender, remove the sauce from the heat and season to taste with more salt, if needed, and: Fresh-ground black pepper.
• Include 1/4 cup dried porcini, soaked, drained, and chopped fine, with the diced vegetables.
• Other cuts of beef can be used instead of skirt steak. Chuck or hanging tenderloin will make a delicious sauce, although hanging tenderloin will require at least an hour more of cooking time to become tender. During the additional cooking time it may be necessary to add more broth or milk to keep the sauce from becoming too dry.

MERGUEZ BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium Dutch oven over medium heat until simmering. Add pancetta and cook, stirring often, until fat has rendered, 10 to 12 minutes. Add carrot, onion, and celery and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Add ground beef and merguez sausage and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring to break meat into small pieces, until browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain excess fat as needed.
• Add Chianti and cook until liquid has almost evaporated. Reduce heat to medium and stir in tomato paste. Cook until sauce turns dark red, 3 to 5 minutes. Add enough milk to barely cover the meat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until milk has evaporated and the mixture turns into a thick rich sauce, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Adjust salt and pepper, if necessary.

CLASSIC BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Add EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add the butter to the oil in small pieces and when the butter foams, add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and bay and stir, about 5 minutes. Add pancetta and stir 8 to 10 more minutes to render and crisp. Add about a third of the beef and crumble it with a wooden paddle or spoon, let all of the liquid absorb and let the meat begin to lightly caramelize before adding the next third; repeat. Season the meat with salt, pepper, white pepper and nutmeg. Add white wine, about a quarter to a third of a bottle, then stir and let it absorb into the meat. Scrape up all of the fond or the drippings from the meats and vegetables, being careful not to burn the meat. Add milk, tomatoes and about 1 cup stock, a piece of cheese rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano if you have one, then lower heat to simmer, partially cover and cook the sauce 2 1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally and thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Add up to 1 extra cup of stock if needed if sauce gets too thick. The perfect traditional Bolognese should be buttery, uniform and emulsified, the consistency of rich, tender, pourable oatmeal. Remove bay leaf and the rind, if using, from the sauce. Sauce may be made a few days ahead as the longer it sets, the better it gets.
• To serve, cook pasta in salted water 1 minute less than package directions for al dente. Reserve 1 full cup of starchy cooking water, then drain pasta and place back in hot pot.
• Combine pasta with about two-thirds of the sauce, the cooking water and a couple of handfuls of grated cheese, tossing with tongs to combine.
• Serve pasta in shallow bowls with a little torn basil.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE WITH MEAT

Steps:

• In a large saucepan saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add ground beef and continue cooking. Stir in prosciutto and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter, chopped tomatoes, and tomato paste. Let sauce simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Simmer for one hour. Add additional butter and simmer for an additional half hour.

BOLOGNESE ON A BUDGET

Steps:

• Rinse lentils under cold running water and drain. Place the water and lentils in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils just begin to soften, about 20 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and onions into the lentils; bring to a gentle simmer. Crumble the bouillon cube into the lentil mixture and stir until it's dissolved. Simmer for about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.