Bolognese Recipe

This flavoursome, tomatoey meat sauce can be served with pasta of your choice. The white wine in the recipe can be replaced with red wine or stock if desired.

Makes about 8 cups meat sauce.

Serves about 6-8.

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

40ml (2 tablespoons) oil
1 large (200g) onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium (120g) carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick (100g) celery, finely chopped
500g veal mince
500g pork mince
100g shortcut bacon, finely chopped
22g (about 3 large) garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
100g (4 tablespoons) tomato paste
125ml (1/2 cup) white wine
250ml (1 cup) chicken stock
800g canned diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
5g (1 tablespoon, firmly packed) roughly chopped fresh oregano leaves
20ml (1 tablespoon) balsamic vinegar
Salt, to taste (we use about 3/4 teaspoon fine salt)
Pepper, to taste
About 75-100g dried pasta per person
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Heat oil in a heavy-based stockpot or very large, heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery to the pan. Cook vegetables, stirring often, until softened (about five minutes). © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Increase heat to high. Add the veal mince, pork mince and bacon to the pan. Break up mince by mashing with a fork until no large clumps remain. Continue cooking and stirring until meat has changed colour.

Add garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for one minute.

Add wine, stock, tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to the pan.

Once the mixture boils, cover (have the steam vent on the lid open) and reduce the heat to low so that the mixture is simmering. Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and simmer (you may need to increase the heat to maintain the simmer) for about 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and thickened to the desired consistency.

Discard bay leaves.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water according to the directions on the packet. Drain pasta and divide between warmed bowls. Top pasta with bolognese sauce and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Store bolognese sauce in a covered container in the refrigerator or freezer. We freeze the bolognese sauce in single-serve portions and reheat in a saucepan or in a microwave. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au