Bolognese Sauce

[ptolemy]

I do not know if it's authentic or not, but what is authentic in Italy, where sauces chances every 10 miles.

This recipe is a mix of “not another cooking show’s” recipe and Kenji Lopez’s recipe.

I scaled it for about 7lbs of meat (my pot is 8.4qt), since it takes a while to make and freezes well, but it can be scaled down.

Ingredients:

1. 7lbs of ground meat. I prefer mix of beef, pork, lamb, and or veal
2. 16oz cleaned chicken livers (optional, I once made it with duck livers and it was awesome)
3. Bunch of carrots, celery, onions - Approx 1lbs to 1.5lbs of each
4. 1oz of fresh Sage & Thyme
5. One Bunch of parsley (3-4oz)
6. 1-2 heads of garlic (depending how much you like it)
7. 1 Pint of Heavy Cream (1/2 is probably minimum and then adjust for flavor at the end).
8. 1 Bottle of Red Wine 750ml
9. 8oz of tomato paste (approx)
10. 2-4 Bay leaves
11. 3 Tablespoons fish sauce (optional)
12. Salt and Pepper
13. 2oz of Gelatin (if stock is home made, you can skip it)
14. Oil of choice (I fry approx 8 strips bacon and use fat from that)
15. 5-6oz of fine grated hard/aged cheese (Parmasean or Pecorino will work great). I use a Reggianito from Uruguay or Latvia as it’s not as salty but has great flavor

Prep:

1. In the food processor chop carrots, onions, celery and garlic to 1.5-2mm pieces (1/16th of an inch). Once it’s chopped, put it in the bowl or directly into a stew pot or caldero, rondeau or dutch oven
2. Do the same thing for sage, thyme and parsley in a different bowl.
3. Chop garlic separately in the 3rd bowl, You can use garlic press if you like, if so, then save it for later.
4. Once that’s done, put chicken livers there (or use a hand blender) and make a smooth paste and place in a separate bowl.
5. We will start cooking next but once keep in mind that once you put meat in, get tomato paste cans opened, wine bottle opened, and get ready to start warming chicken stock.

Cooking:

1. Put oil in a pot of choice and turn heat on to medium.
2. Add all carrots, onions, and celery to the pot and a pinch of salt (do not add garlic) and pepper.
3. Cover the pot, and cook it for 20-30 min on medium heat, stirring every 8-10min. You want to get all the water out and once you start hearing sizzle and notice the bottom getting brown spots, then you know it’s ready.
4. Once vegetables have most of the water out, make a hole in the middle and put all your garlic in there (if needed, add a teaspoon of fresh oil)
5. Cook garlic for 1-2 min, until it just starts to color and you can smell it.
6. After that, mix it with all the vegetables to prevent burning.
7. Now, you can add all of your meat + pinch of salt and 1-2 tea spoons of freshly ground pepper
8. Use a spatula to break it down into 1-2 inch pieces (don’t worry about breaking it down perfectly, as it’ll breakdown later)
9. Cook it for 20-40min on med heat, stirring every 8-10minutes (as you break down the meat into ½” pieces), until most of the liquid is out and you hear sizzle and the bottom starts to brown.
10. Once meat is ready, add chicken liver paste and mix it.
11. After cooking it for 8-10min, add thyme, parsley and sage and cook for 10-12minutes (here you can add the rest of the garlic)
12. Once that’s ready, add tomato paste, mix it and cook for 6-10minutes, until it’s incorporated and starts to brown at the bottom.
13. Once that’s ready, add a bottle of wine, mix it well, lower the heat to low and cook it for 15minutes or so or until the wine is mostly evaporated.
14. While the wine is cooking out, set the oven to 350f.
15. Add gelatine to the pot and chicken stock and mix well
16. At this point, it should look like loose soup, which is what we want.
17. Add 2 bay leafs and put in the oven
18. Once an hour, take it out and mix it and scrape sides (that stuff is super yummy) and skim the fat.
19. Do the same in hour 2 and hour 3.
20. After 3 hours, you should see it coming together. At this point taste it and if it still feels a bit liquidy, then put it back in the oven for 30-min to 1 hour.
21. After that, it should be perfect and only thing left is to finish it.

Finishing:

1. Add 3-4 tablespoons of Fish sauce, cheese, and a 8-16oz of heavy cream and mix it for 30 seconds
2. At this point, it should thicken, get a bit lighter in color and emulsify.
3. Taste it. It should be saltier than usual w/ robust flavor. Meat be very liciously tender. If needed, now is time to adjust salt and pepper.

 

[Dendrobatez]

Sounds good, the one thing most people do wrong is cooking length. Just because the meat is cooked doesn't mean it's done, gotta wait for the right texture. Like the fish sauce instead of using chopped anchovies, not usually something I keep on my fridge. I use a different herb set and add half before braising and half before cooling.
Got any pics, what pasta did you serve with?

 

[inferno]

when i make bologonese sause i do it like this:

4-500g ground meat, cow or pig or cow-pig 50/50
1 small can chopped tomatos. 400g or so
1 container tomato sauce 400g or so. herb or garlic type.
1 small container sliced jalapenos
1/3 bottle ketchup
1 small container of champignon mushrooms
1 small container of sun dried tomatos.
spices to taste.

boil 0,5h, done.

maybe i'm too unsifisticated

 

[inferno]

i have also tried doing it all with fresh materials but it doesn't taste or smell different, so why even bother.

 

[ptolemy]

Sounds good, the one thing most people do wrong is cooking length. Just because the meat is cooked doesn't mean it's done, gotta wait for the right texture. Like the fish sauce instead of using chopped anchovies, not usually something I keep on my fridge. I use a different herb set and add half before braising and half before cooling.
Got any pics, what pasta did you serve with?

I didn't serv it, portioned it and passed out for a nap. When I did first few runs, I tasted after each hour and you could really tell how it was coming along. I chose to stick with fish sauce because it added freshness at the end. I also have some anchovies and was thinking of using them, but this dish already has so many strong flavors that I felt like it's not needed.

I did the first batch with 1/2 before braising and 1/2 at the end, but to me, that felt slightly overpowering on he herbal end. I also removed rosemary, as while I love it, I didnt think it was needed.

I was surprised how many fat came out this time vs last batch of same size.

Attached a pic from last batch

 

[MrHiggins]

Sounds good, the one thing most people do wrong is cooking length. Just because the meat is cooked doesn't mean it's done, gotta wait for the right texture...

I made my version of the serious eats bolognase last week. I started it too late and ended up baking it at 235 over night (probably cooked for 10 hrs total). It turned out to be the best bolognase I've ever had... I also used anchovies rather than fish sauce, used demi glase and water rather than stock, and halved the cream (I find it deadens the flavors).

 

[Supraunleaded]

I made the “not another cooking show” version last week. It hit all the right notes and was a crowd pleaser.

 

[Michi]

I do not know if it's authentic or not, but what is authentic in Italy, where sauces chances every 10 miles.

Awesome write-up, thank you!

 

[ptolemy]

Awesome write-up, thank you!

TY KIndly. your food looks fantastic!

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So, I kinda expected this but I am glad it happened, so I can elaborate on this more. In my last batch (pic above), I talked about how ground meat was much leaner than this one, so when I stirred it after every hour or so, the top part browned nicely and after 3 hours it reduced and concentrated flavor just about perfectly.

This batch had a lot more fattier mince, and after first 3 hrs, I probably removed 10-12oz of reddish flavored fat. But, I also noticed that fat on top was nice and brown and when i removed the fat and mixed the meat, it didn't brown as much (since oil slick kept it from browning). After almost 4 hrs in the oven, I removed enough fat to my satisfaction and finished the sauce. Finished sauced looked a bit lighter than previous batch, which made me think that pint of heavy cream for 8qts of sauce was a too much (even though I used same qty as last time), BUT, I think it's not the cream. I think because the sauce had a lot more fat in it, which prevented it from naturally browning in the oven, cream just had more effect on the color. Taste would also be different (not as strong) due to not having enough browning to last batch and not due to cream. I imagine using less cream this time may have overcome some of it, but I also don't think it would have been as much as I had hoped if I wanted to replicate the last batch perfectly. There is likely no way to replicate browning, short of increasing oven temp and cooking for another hour, which would be nice, if you had added a bit more water to keep the sauce going (which is the plan for next time since I still have 6lbs of fatty lamb mince).

In summary: If your mince is fattier than usual (good sign is, you have to skim it several times with plating spoon), then you will get less browning in the oven; therefore, use less cream at the end and / or get temp up to 400f+ last hour to get more browning (make sure sauce doesn't dry out and burn though).

Definitely an experience I valued, since it so explains what ingredients can do for you and how one may try to overcome it or succumb to it.

(this batch's below)