Nonna-style Bolognese Sauce for Lasagna

Ciao! 

My name is Andrew and this is a bolognese recipe that I learned from my Nonna. This bolognese recipe is perfect for the sauce in a lasagna.

Enjoy.

Equipment

• 30cm base sauce pot, with lid

• Wooden spoon

• Good chopping knife

Ingredients

• Olive oil (regular, not virgin)

• 1x Brown onion 

• 1x Carrot (we’ll use half)

• 1x Celery stick (we’ll use same amount as the carrot)

• 4x Garlic cloves 

• 1x Fresh red chilli (the smaller the hotter!)

• 500g mince meat (mixed pork and beef. Usually it’s labeled bolognese mince)
  OR
  Vego option: 1x eggplant

• Tomatoes cans (2x 400g whole peeled, 1x 400g diced - Italian tomatoes if possible)

• 1x tablespoon of tomato paste

• ¼ cup of red wine

• Fresh basil (bunch)

• Salt and pepper

Method

Preparing the ingredients

1. Dice the onions, carrot and celery.

2. Finley chop the garlic and chilli.

3. Vego option: Cut the eggplant into 1cm cubes.

4. Open all your cans of tomatoes.

Making the base of the sauce

1. Get the onions in the pot on a medium heat.

2. Drizzle enough olive oil to cover the surface of the onions and then a couple of swirls around the pot. It will look like the onions are in plenty of oil!

3. Sweat the onions until they start to become transparent.

4. Add in the garlic and chilli, give the pot a stir.

5. Add the carrot and celery, give the pot a stir. Soften these veggies for about 2 min.

Making the body of the sauce

1. Add the mince meat in the pot by breaking the mince into small chunks and dispersing around the pot. You want to lightly brown the sides of the mince chunks by moving the mince around with your wooden spoon from time to time. Keep an eye to avoid overcooking the mince.

2. Vego option: Put in the eggplant, give the pot a stir.

3. Slowly pour 1x can of whole peeled tomatoes into your hand over the pot. Give the whole peeled tomatoes a gentle squeeze so as to mash the tomato roughly. Be careful, as tomatoes can squirt everywhere! Repeat this with the second can of whole peeled tomatoes. Pour in the can of diced tomatoes. At this stage, you should see some oily streaks rising to the edges of the pot. If not, you can put another swirl of oil in the pot. Give the pot a stir to mix in all ingredients.

4. Turn down the heat of your sauce if it is raging with bubbles. You want it to be lightly bubbling.

5. Put in the tomato paste and wine, give the pot a stir.

6. Put in plenty of salt and pepper and give the sauce a taste. It always seems like you put enough salt and pepper, but this is when you realise you need more! Keep seasoning until you feel it suits your palette. Give the pot a stir.

7. Put in 2x stems worth of whole basil leaves. You can put in leaves individually or with the stem. Both are good.

8. Pop the lid on top, slightly ajar so steam can come out. Make sure the heat is on a level where the sauce is still bubbling, but very subtly.

9. Leave the sauce cook for at least 1.5hrs. Best results are around the 2hr mark, which gives the sauce enough time to reduce and thicken.

10. Check in on the sauce every 30min or so with a quick taste. Add salt and pepper as necessary to develop the flavour that you enjoy most.