Description
Our family Classic Bolognese Sauce recipe is great for weeknight dinners and freezes beautifully in individual portions.
Ingredients
Scale
- splash light oil
- 1 brown onion
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery stick
- 100g (4oz) unsmoked streaky bacon or lardons
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 x 400g (14 oz) pack beef mince
- freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
- 1 heaped tbsp tomato puree
- 1 x 400g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes
- 150ml (1/4 pint) beef, chicken or vegetable stock (about 1 stock cube)
- 200ml (7 fl oz) red wine
- generous pinch golden caster sugar
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
Instructions
- Peel and finely chop the onion, carrots and the celery. Transfer to a large saucepan or shallow casserole dish with a generous glug of light oil and a good pinch of sea salt. Set the pan over a medium-high heat and gently soften the mixture for 10 minutes or so until everything is soft and just starting to turn golden, but not brown.
- Peel and crush the garlic clove into the pan and cook for a further minute until aromatic. Chop the bacon into little pieces and add to the pan, cooking until cooked through.
- Add the beef and turn the heat up to high. Fry the beef, breaking it up with the back of the wooden spoon until browned. Season generously with salt and pepper and add the tomato puree, cooking for a further minute until the beef is all coated in the tomato and it has turned a lovely brick red colour.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, the stock and the wine, washing out the tomato tin with one of the latter so you don’t leave any tomatoey goodness behind. Add a generous pinch of sugar and the dried oregano.
- Bring the sauce to the boil and allow to bubble away for 15 minutes. Then, turn the sauce right down to low, and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper to taste before serving.