Bolognese sauce is a hearty Italian pasta sauce in which ground beef and pork are simmered for hours in milk, wine, tomatoes, and vegetables. While it sounds a little odd, the sweet, deep-tasting sauce is a classic for good reason. There’s a little bit of fussiness involved, because there are a few steps to prepare this for the slow cooker. I promise you it’s worth it. What makes this sauce different than classic marinara (spaghetti) sauce is that the flavor of the wine comes through in a subtle way.
I love adore Italian food. That explains why I can’t stick to a no-carb diet. To me, pasta is a vehicle for sauces. It’s also a fool-proof way to clean out my vegetable bin. I have only one off spring– a boy 22 year old son. Living with my husband and son, pasta is something I make year-round. Now that I’ve mastered making a quick marinara sauce, I don’t buy bottled spaghetti sauce. Amen to that! I’ve always wanted to make Bolognese sauce. This sauce is simmered, long and slow, for hours. I’m not opposed to doing that, but my slow cooker has been sitting idle for a very long time Enter the test kitchen at Cook’s Illustrated–who also produces one of my favorite cooking magazines, “Cook’s Country “–and I finally made the decision to make my own Bolognese sauce. There are many versions of making this sauce. Several include Pancetta, but this recipe uses ground beef and pork. I prepared finely chopped carrots, celery and onion.
Freshly chopped thyme, 3 cloves of minced garlic and 3 Tablespoons of tomato pasta is ready to begin…
Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened but not colored, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add meat, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up meat, until crumbled into tiny pieces and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add milk, bring to vigorous simmer, and cook until milk evaporates and only clear fat remains, 10 to 15 minutes.
Next, two 28-ounce canned tomatoes need to be pureed in a blender/food processor until smooth…
Transfer mixture to slow cooker, cover, set temperature to high, and bring to boil. I love the slow cooker bags that I find at my grocery store. They really do make cleanup much easier! We’re cooking this on HIGH, bringing it to a boil. Why? According to the Cook’s Country article, we want the extra liquid to evaporate, so we don’t get a watery sauce.
Once mixture comes to boil, remove lid and simmer until sauce is very thick, 7 to 8 hours.
Make Ahead
This recipe can be partially made the Once mixture comes to boil, remove lid and simmer until sauce is very thick, 7 to 8 hours. To prepare the recipe the night before so that it’s ready to place in the slow cooker in the morning, complete steps 1 and 2 and refrigerate the mixture in the Dutch oven. The next morning, bring the mixture back to a boil, transfer it to the slow cooker, and proceed as directed.
The aroma that wafted through our kitchen was making my mouth water. When I checked on the sauce, I didn’t like all the fat that had floated to the top.
My sister-in-law gave me this “fat mop
” as a gift, a few years ago. I love it! It quickly soaks up the surface fat and then it “squeegees” it away!
TASTING NOTES: I think it’s my slow cooker that doesn’t get hot enough to boil the meat sauce as much as it could have. I thought the sauce was still a bit thinner than I’d like. I remedied that with a mixture of flour/water, and I added it a little bit at a time, until it reached my desired thickness.
We were so hungry, by the time the sauce was ready, that I plated it without even thinking of making it photogenic. I only had spaghetti noodles on hand, and I was disappointed that I didn’t have a more tagliatelle or fettuccine noodles. But, let’s talk about the sauce…
TASTING NOTES: What I love best about this Bolognese, is that it tastes just like the one I’ve been buying from a local Italian restaurant (they have a take-out section). The tomato flavor takes a back seat, and it’s the wine that shines through. The texture of the meat was, indeed, very tender. This recipe makes 12 cups of sauce, so I froze two 4-cup portions.
I have always wanted to buy an Atlas Pasta Machine. On eBay, I spotted a gently used Atlas Pasta Machine Set and I got the whole pasta machine set for $60.00!!! For a couple of weeks, I felt hesitant to make my own pasta– as I had never done it, other than the Sardinian Gnocchi that I made, some time ago.
UPDATE: I’ve recently bought the Phillips Automatic Pasta Maker and I love it, though my Atlas Pasta Maker is ideal for making ravioli and other types of pasta as well.
Last week, it was raining and so I decided to just dive in and figure out how to use the pasta machine. I giggled, with delight, as I rolled my first successful set of pasta! (I made a basic egg dough.) I was delighted to find out that it’s not that hard to make pasta, and I’m very excited to make more! So, I thawed a container of the frozen Bolognese sauce…
TASTING NOTES: Commercially made spaghetti noodles really don’t do justice to this sauce. The thicker noodles carry this sauce perfectly. The homemade pasta, glass of red wine and this sauce was so comforting. We loved it! I think that Cook’s Country has done justice to the Italian community. This sauce would be just as good, if simply simmered on the stove top for hours. However, for full-time working cooks, do the prep work the night before. The next day, let it simmer in a slow cooker. There is no way that a commercially, bottled sauce can come close to the homemade flavors of patiently cooking vegetables, patiently cooking the meats and using fresh herbs. To be honest, this sauce tastes just as good as the Italian restaurant I used to stop and pay $8.00 for a quart of this. Sure, this recipe is a bit fussy. But, so am I!
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 small onion chopped fine
- 1 small carrot peeled and chopped fine
- 1/2 rib celery chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 pounds meatloaf mix or 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck and 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 cups dry white wine
- 2 28 ounce whole tomatoes , ground in blender until smooth
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves chopped
Instructions
- Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until foaming. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened but not colored, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add meat, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook, breaking up meat, until crumbled into tiny pieces and lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add milk, bring to vigorous simmer, and cook until milk evaporates and only clear fat remains, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add wine, tomatoes, and thyme; cover and bring to boil. Transfer mixture to slow cooker, cover, set temperature to high, and bring to boil.
- Once mixture comes to boil, remove lid and simmer until sauce is very thick, 7 to 8 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.
- Make Ahead
- This recipe can be partially made the night before so that its ready to place in the slow cooker in the morning. Complete steps 1 and 2 and refrigerate the mixture in the Dutch oven. The next morning, bring the mixture back to a boil, transfer it to the slow cooker, and proceed as directed.
- Because steam rises from the sauce as it cooks, its best to place the slow cooker on a counter with no cabinetry overhead. If you need more than the 7 or 8 hours of cooking time called for in the recipe, in step 3 set the lid halfway off the cooker rather than removing it, then simmer the sauce for 10 to 11 hours. Freeze leftover sauce in airtight containers for up to 2 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Absolutely fantastic!
I love bolognese sauce and homemade pasta, and I also love slow cooker.
Looks lovely – I have made pasta often, although it took me a bit to get the technique down. But once you learn it, it really is very easy.
There really isn't anything like fresh pasta! When I lived in Italy I ate sooo much of it because it was seriously addicting! What is your Ebay secret?!? I totally forgot to tell you that while at Blogher Food David Lebovitz sat at my table for lunch and I just kept thinking how ironic it was that I had just won the book! And yes, I am planning on going to Foodbuzz!!!
One of my favorite pasta sauces!
I don't own a slow cooker, but maybe this winter will go for it!
We are big bolognese fans. Thanks for the slow-cooker recipe and the inspiration to dig out that old pasta maker!
Oh, thank you Debby, I'm jumping up and down for joy and am thrilled that I won Steven Raichlin's cookbook. He is the master and I know I will learn from both of you this summer. I'll get my address to you right away.
Thanks again.
Both are wonderful dishes that sound delicious and photograph well. I love fresh pasta but don't make it nearly as often as I should. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
That sauce looks amazing I am going to have to make it this week when it cools down. p.s. our very first Barbequeu cookbook was that exact same one!
I've always wanted to make my own pasta. But you're right, the machines are so expensive! I know you can roll them out by hand but they don't get thin enough. One of these days I'll invest in one. I wanna know your secret for EBAY!. Spill it lady!