Just made my usual Bolognese, and wondered if I miss putting anything in ?

always use

minced beef
spring onions
1/2 red pepper
1/4 green pepper
mushrooms
garlic
black pepper
Jar Dolmio or sim Bolognese Sauce


Pasta, grated cheese for top
side salad, crusty bread
anything missing ?

jo x

Mine is usually:

Onions, carrots, celery, mince, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, salt, black pepper.

Needs a good 3 hours or more though.

Dash of worcester sauce or soy sauce?

I use red wine as well, sometimes chicken livers, and sometimes milk and cream depending on which recipe I use. I use Simon Hopkinson, and Georgio Locatelli, both excellent recipes.

i add red wine,basil & oregano

So do I, how could I forget (probably too much red wine).

Why the need for a jar of sauce?

My boy wont eat fresh or tinned Toms yet will eat Bol sauces
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Thanks have added a few items to try

jo x

That's mine as well, except for the Thyme.
(Not forgetting the wine of course!)

I don't forget the wine when I'm making it, just when trying to recall it.

The thyme works well although I sometimes leave it out, not too much and it has to be fresh.

I'm not keen on the really over-herbed and spiced sauces that seem to be standard for jar sauces but thyme adds a subtle flavour without whacking you round the head.

Bolognese/ragu is best kept simple.

Agreed, and like you say, cooked for a very long time.

Try making it with a jar or carton of passata instead, much cheeper and nicer than the over processed pre-made sauces.

Red sauce


2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot or 1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
1 small stalk of celery, including the green tops, finely chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

I make this in batches and freeze in jars, leave enough room at the top of the jar for expansion, and pop the lid back on when its frozen

Bacon and red wine makes the perfect bol for me What kind of mince does everyone else use? I always used to have extra lean, but to save money I started using Sainsbury basic 75p mince and drain the fat off - it's actually much tastier! Minced turkey also works surprisingly well

I have tried cheaper mince in Tesco, and i find them chewy and very fatty. So I will now only use Tescos 'healthy eating' mince. Its VERY expensive though, about £2.50 a pack. Its good stuff though, and i would rather have mince less, but a good quality mince.

If you use celery, carrots and onions finely diced, you don't need that much meat, the Italians certainly don't pt a lot of mince in theirs

This is correct, in fact they have just enough sauce to lightly dress the pasta. Half a pound of mince would be ample in a Ragu to serve a family of four in Italy.
I've never understood why us Brits put the spaghetti on the plate and then dump a thick wodge of sauce on top like a cowpat!

Tastiest cowpat I've ever had

I've never heard of spring onions in it before. Other than that, and that I use quorn mince, more or less what everyone had said. Sometimes I add cheese whilst it's cooking.

The original recipe (ragù alla bolognese) is really difficult to identify precisely, because there are LOTS of variations - and do believe me, I live in Italy and every restaurant and home cook has its own, even me..........
Anyway, this looks to me the best one because it's the simplest:

50 gr bacon or pancetta (Italian version of bacon)
200 gr minced veil meat
200 gr minced pork meat
1 carrot
half an onion
1 celery
2 ladles of broth (either vegetable or meat-based)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
200 gr. of tomatoes
1 glass of red wine
butter
salt- pepper


Put the butter in a pot, add the diced celery, onion and carrot, when they have sweated out a bit, add the bacon/pancetta and cook for ten minutes. Add the minced meats, let them brown a bit, then put the wine in and let it evaporate. Add the tomato paste and the tomatoes and a ladle of broth. Let it cook for one hour and a half, adding more broth if it gets too dry. Add salt and pepper only at the end.
I know it takes a bit longer, it lasts for about three days in the fridge and you can freeze it however.

That's fairly similar to one recipe I have, but I do like the addition of a few chicken livers, if you chop them finely you only notice the additional flavour and not the texture and I add slightly more wine and let it evaporate as well, the same as you do. I must do it again as it really is a hit with the family. Does anyone know, can this be done in a crockpot? With lifting the lid to add so many ingredients how would you time it? Would you make it all up prior to the 2 hours plus simmering and then put it in the pot on low?
Last edited by fannyadams : 16-01-2008 at 18:31

You really need to sweat the veg, brown the meat and reduce the wine in a pan but you can then tip it all in a crock pot and leave it simmering all day.

Only really useful if you want to leave it though as it is arguably easier to just to keep it in the pan on low.

It did taste very good though as I left it cooking for over eight hours in the slow cooker.

What a good idea, I've never tried doing it in the slow cooker, next time I make it I'll give that a go.

I use Mince (I've sometimes used Quorn mince when I've been on a health kick !)
Onion, garlic carrot and mushrooms chopped and sweated
then I add the mince and red wine and reduce for a bit
then a tin of chopped tomatoes and a carton of passata
a stock cube, plenty of basil and oregano salt and pepper.
and water if necessary.
I've never put chicken livers in but I know it's classic to do so, and some people add chopped bacon, which I never have, I might give the chicken livers a go though and a long, slow cook. luvly jubly !!

my OH is like that but the passata idea is good, as my OH will eat dishes made with that.

For me essential ingredients have to be herbs and garlic.