Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese has always been my favorite kind of sauce. I make mine a little different each time. Below are the basics, based off my Grandma Filomena's recipe, with a few changes. If you want to add carrots and celery (I don't always add them and did not tonight), I find it easiest to use a small food processor for those and the onion and garlic. I also usually add red wine after the tomatoes, but most recipes say to add it before and cook it a few minutes. Red wine gives the sauce such a great flavor - I always add lots of it!

Below is a double recipe (the original recipe calls for 1 pound total of meat and one of each can of tomatoes). I did not double the onion and garlic in the recipe below, but you can. I usually make this double recipe in my Le Creuset 5.5-qt. Dutch Oven. Tonight I tried a triple recipe (2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of ground sausage) in my new Le Creuset 6.75-qt. Round Wide Dutch Oven, and it just barely fit. I managed not to spill any though! That dutch oven worked well because there was so much room to brown the meat. This was my first time using it and I love it! The next time I make a triple recipe, I should probably use my Le Creuset 7.25-qt. Dutch Oven, just to have a little more space to stir the sauce! This triple recipe was enough sauce for dinner tonight with 1 pound of pasta, and then I froze 4 5-cup containers of sauce for easy dinners in the near future.

You can easily adapt this recipe to your liking. I'm posting it here so I remember next time what I did tonight because it was delicious. My husband had 3 bowls of pasta which he rarely does, so it must have been good!

Bolognese Sauce

 

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped (optional)

2 celery stalks, finely chopped (optional)

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork sausage

2 28-ounce cans Whole Tomatoes 

2 6-ounce cans Tomato paste, plus 2 6-ounce cans of water

Fresh basil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Oregano, to taste (optional)

Rosemary, to taste (optional)

Italian Seasoning, to taste (optional)

Red wine (6-8 ounces or as much as you like)

Fresh parsley, chopped

Pasta water

 

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Sauté onion, garlic, carrots and celery (if you are using them) until the onion is translucent. Add the ground meat and brown it while breaking it up.

Add salt, pepper, oregano, rosemary and Italian seasoning (or seasonings of your choice) to the browned meat mixture.

Add a generous amount of red wine, stir, and cook for a few minutes (or you can add the wine after the tomatoes).

Blend whole tomatoes (or you can use a 28-ounce can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes), tomato paste, can of water and fresh basil in blender until smooth. Add blended sauce to the meat. (If you don't need to blend the tomatoes, add the tomato paste and water to the meat mixture first and cook for a few minutes, then add the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes after).

Continue cooking slowly, simmering for at least 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped fresh parsley once the sauce is done cooking.

Cook your favorite pasta. Once the pasta is ready and before draining it, add a ladle full of pasta water to the sauce. Stir the sauce once more and serve it on your pasta!

Freeze remaining sauce in small containers for future use.

This sauce is perfect to use with lasagna, baked ziti and stuffed shells as well.

3 recipes of Bolognese in my 6.75-qt. Le Creuset Round Wide Dutch Oven

2 recipes of Bolognese in my 5.5-qt. Le Creuset Round Dutch Oven

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Every time I have stuffed shells I remember they are so easy to make and perfect to freeze for a quick meal another day. Yesterday my cousin made stuffed shells for a bridal shower and it reminded me to post this recipe. The stuffed shells recipe is my Aunt Barbara's (although I made a few changes to the ingredient amounts in her original recipe) and the bolognese sauce recipe is my grandma's. Because these can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, my family has made them for numerous events over the years. Serve them with meatballs and sausage, salad and bread and you have a delicious Italian meal!

I like to parboil the shells, not completely boil them. This makes them easier to fill and less likely to break. I have also used this recipe to make manicotti using store-bought shells. Just be careful when putting the filling in so you do not rip the manicotti shells!

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

12-ounce box jumbo shells, parboiled

2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, lightly cooked and drained

32 ounces ricotta cheese

16 ounces shredded mozzarella

2 lightly beaten eggs

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Spaghetti Meat Sauce or Bolognese Sauce (recipe below) or your favorite marinara sauce

(or blend a 28-ounce can of Hunts Whole or Italian Plum tomatoes in the blender.  Add a little pepper and pour over stuffed shells.  No need to cook the blended tomatoes before baking.)

Cook shells (when cooking shells, add a small amount of oil to the water to prevent sticking).  After the shells are cooked, drain and run under cold water, drain again.

Lightly cook the frozen chopped spinach and drain completely.

To spinach, add ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Stuff each shell with one tablespoon of ricotta mixture.

Arrange shells in an oven-proof casserole.  Spoon sauce over and around the shells.  Cover with foil and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until steaming – do not let it dry out.

Freezing Stuffed Shells:

Shells can be frozen in a casserole (before the baking process).  Allow casserole to defrost in refrigerator.  Bake as directed above. 

     --or--

Arrange stuffed shells on a plastic-wrap covered cookie sheet. Quick freeze.  When shells are frozen, remove shells from cookie sheet and arrange in layers in a freezer container or place in Zip-lock plastic bag.  Remove the stuffed shells as you need them.  Arrange in casserole, cover with sauce and bake.  Do not defrost the shells before baking.  Bake frozen shells 15-20 minutes longer than the fresh baked stuffed shells.

Bolognese Sauce

 

It is a good idea to make a double recipe of the sauce so that there is some left over to serve over the stuffed shells.

2 Tablespoons bacon drippings or olive oil

1 pound ground beef (chuck, sirloin, round)*

            * Variation: use part ground pork or add a piece of pork (browned)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 small whole onion, lightly browned

28-ounce Hunts Italian or Whole Tomatoes – blend in blender until smooth

6-ounce can Hunts Tomato paste

1 6-ounce can of water

Fresh parsley

Brown whole onion and ground meat in saucepan.  Add tomatoes that have been blended until smooth.  Add salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add tomato paste and water and continue cooking slowly for about 1½ hours.