Slow-Simmered Beef Bolognese

A real bolognese is not a quick sauce. It is the kind of recipe you start at 3pm on a Sunday and pretend to be doing chores around. What you get for that time is something layered and deep that no fast sauce can match.

The soffritto — finely diced onion, carrot and celery cooked slowly in butter — is the foundation. Don't skip the milk, either. It tenderises the beef in a way that sounds odd until you try it.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 12–15 minutes, stirring often, until soft and sweet.
2. Raise the heat to medium-high, add the beef, and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 8–10 minutes until any liquid has evaporated and the meat starts to brown in the pan.
3. Pour in the milk and simmer until it has almost fully reduced. Add the wine and reduce again.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to the gentlest setting, cover slightly off-centre, and cook for 90 minutes to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of water if it looks dry.
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Toss with cooked pasta and a ladle of the cooking water, and finish with Parmesan.

Cooking tips

• Dice the soffritto vegetables really small — they should melt into the sauce, not stand apart.
• Bolognese is even better the next day. Make it ahead if you can.
• Freezes brilliantly in single portions for nights you cannot face cooking.

More like this

If you enjoyed this recipe, you'll find more of my favourite main dishes recipes in the archive, or browse the full collection.