Easy Pasta Bolognese Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make bolognese even better? ›

For Meat Sauces

Known as Bolognese in Italy, these classic slow-simmered sauces are often a Sunday treat at Nonna's house. If you want to best capture these hearty sauces, serve them with traditional tube-shaped pasta—like Rigatoni and Tortiglioni—or deep scoopable shapes like Shells and Orecchiette.

For an authentic and rich flavor, Bolognese sauce benefits from a slow and low cooking process. Simmer it on the stove for at least 2 to 4 hours, or even longer if time allows. This allows the flavors to meld and intensify, resulting in a hearty and delicious sauce.

If the mix is slightly dry, then add some of the pasta water until you get the desired consistency. The proper (read: pedantic, old fashioned) way to serve ragu alla bolognese is with tagliatelle. And, yes, traditionally, the pasta and sauce should come well-intermixed, ready to eat.

As the sauce simmers, the water in it will evaporate and the sauce will get thicker. You can also add a little bit of cornstarch to the sauce to thicken it without changing the flavor. If you don't mind altering the sauce's flavor, try adding grated cheese, tomato paste, or even mashed potatoes to thicken it.

Q1: What is the distinction between traditional and American Bolognese? A1: While some of the ingredients in bolognese are similar to those in American-style spaghetti meat sauce, authentic bolognese is thicker, has milk added (which is delicious), and uses far less tomato.

Traditional service and use

In Bologna ragù is traditionally paired and served with tagliatelle made with eggs and northern Italy's soft wheat flour. Acceptable alternatives to fresh tagliatelle include other broad flat pasta shapes, such as pappardelle or fettuccine, and tube shapes, such as rigatoni and penne.

The best tip for intensifying the flavour of your sauce is just to cook it slowly on a low heat for a long time. This reduces the sauce and intensifies the flavours – four hours is not uncommon for my bolognese.

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

Do you simmer bolognese with lid on or off? ›

It depends. If the sauce is too strong, leave the lid on for a bit, recognizing that condensation will form and water will therefore be added to the sauce. Lid off will allow extra moisture in the sauce to evaporate and thicken it. So, if you want a thicker sauce, lid off.

For a perfect ragù the only type of tomato that should be used is tomato purée; no peeled or fresh tomatoes, which would release too much water and give the preparation a less intense taste.

While the pre-made sauce may already include some herbs, adding your own will help enhance those flavors. Tossing in strips of basil, a sprig of thyme or some oregano can take your sauce to the next level. Although fresh herbs might pop a bit more, dried herbs and spices can work just as well.

Salt helps extract water from food. So if added too soon, it could make everything burn. During the cooking of vegetables, for example, a lot of water is released. If salt is added immediately, the water is extracted too quickly and the vegetables risk burning, giving the sauce a horrible taste.

Never rush a bolognese, good things take time. Cooking it for anything less than an hour is seen as rushed. We recommend 1.5 – 2 hours cooking time, or as much time you can spare the better.