Marie’s Italian Bolognese Sauce
Marie’s Italian Bolognese Sauce is a versatile Italian meat sauce that is delicious with a variety of pastas. It is truly the best! As with many of my favorite family dishes, this sauce is a combination of recipes that were handed down to me. Over the years I have tweaked and played with the ingredients until several years ago when I was finally content with the results.
I have to stress one thing at the beginning. Good quality Italian sausage is a MUST. My husband makes his own Italian sausage every year (at least 50 pounds-!) and it is absolutely amazing. In all honesty, I was never a fan of Italian sausage — until I tasted freshly ground homemade Italian sausage! The ingredient list is short but the quality is high. I recommend finding a good butcher, deli, or other source for your Italian sausage whether for this recipe or any recipe that calls for Italian sausage. It will be a game changer!
Italian Ragu alla bolognese is a meat-based sauce that is cooked over time. In my rendition I use both ground beef and ground Italian sausage. The combination of the two meats provides a real depth of flavor. Italian Ragu alla napoletano is a meat based sauce with a good amount of tomato sauce added. My sauce is actually a combination of bolognese and napoletano; I use ground meat as in a bolognese and a good amount of tomatoes as in a napoletano.
A word about the type of pasta to serve with Marie’s Italian Bolognese Sauce. Tagliatelle is the most popular. You could also serve on fettuccine, pappardelle, or atop of The Fluffiest Potato Gnocchi, or inside a layered lasagne. Do NOT serve it with skinny spaghetti noodles, lest you make the mayor of Bologna, Italy flip his lid! A general rule of thumb: A thick sauce needs a thick noodle. Period. Mangia!
Marie’s Italian Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 carrots minced
- 2 celery stalks minced
- 1 red onion minced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
- 1 1/2 lbs spicy Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 2 28 ounce cans tomato puree I use Cento
- 1 can beef consomme
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 3/4 tsp each, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- zest of one lemon
- 2 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving
Instructions
- If you have a food processor, chopping the vegetables is a breeze! Add carrots, celery, red onion, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until vegetables are minced, stopping to scrape down sides when necessary.
- In a large Dutch oven or stock pot, melt the butter with the olive oil over medium heat and add the chopped vegetables. Lightly salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes, until tender.
- Sprinkle the ground beef lightly with garlic salt and pepper. Add to Dutch oven along with the Italian sausage. Use a wooden spoon or potato masher to grind up the meat as it cooks.
- Once the meat is cooked through, add tomatoes, consomme, salt and pepper, and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes.
- Then add cream into meat sauce and simmer for about 1 hour longer, stirring occasionally.
- After simmering for an hour, add in the lemon zest and parmesan cheese. Stir well until cheese has melted into the sauce. Serve with a wide noodle pasta or freshly made gnocchi with additional parmesan. Or use as meat sauce in your lasagne. Mangia!