Bolognese Sauce (An Italian tomato and meat sauce)

By Craig Claiborne

Published March 2, 1982

Total Time
1 hour 50 minutes
Rating
4(423)
Comments
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Featured in: FINE ITALIAN HAND IN STUFFED FOODS

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Ingredients

Yield:about 4 cups

  • 2 tablespoons butter

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • ¼ cup (2 ounces) bulk sausage

  • ½ cup onion chopped fine

  • ⅓ cup celery diced fine

  • ½ cup carrot diced fine

  • ½ pound beef ground fine

  • ½ pound pork ground fine

  • 2 chicken livers, chopped fine, about ⅓ cup

  • ½ teaspoon rosemary

  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

  • Salt to taste, if desired

  • Generous grinding of black pepper

  • 1 cup dry white wine

  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste

  • 3 cups imported canned Italian plum tomatoes

  • 1 cup beef broth

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried

  • ¼ cup heavy cream

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

7 grams carbs; 95 milligrams cholesterol; 260 calories; 7 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 16 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 543 milligrams sodium; 17 grams protein; 4 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat butter and oil in heavy saucepan or casserole and add sausage, onion, celery and carrot. Cook, stirring, until onion wilts.

  2. Step 2

    Add beef, pork and chicken livers and cook, stirring with side of heavy metal spoon to break up lumps, until meats lose raw look. Add rosemary, nutmeg, salt, pepper, wine and tomato paste. Stir to blend.

  3. Step 3

    Puree tomatoes in food processor or blender or crush them by hand. Add tomatoes and broth. Bring to boil and let simmer, skimming surface of fat, 1 ½ hours.

  4. Step 4

    Stir in basil and cream and remove from heat

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Ratings

4 out of 5
423 user ratings
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Comments

Michael

The basic sauce you will recognize from your favorite mom & pop Italian joint. A very flexible base that will survive a little substitution and flair. Far from being a chore, waiting during the long simmering time will allow the aroma to suffuse the house and arouse the appetites of lucky diners.

Johanna

Oops, didn't see that you need both sausage and pork. Made it with just sausage, hehe. And I decided to use liverwurst instead of chicken livers, since I don't know where to find chicken livers. It was awesome anyway!

Christine Q

I doubled the recipe for a dinner of 8 and made it the night before to allow the flavors to meld overnight. I only used 2, 28 oz cans of Italian whole tomatoes, and after pouring out an inch of juice into the Dutch ovused the emersion blender right in the can. No muss no fuss. I also didn’t bother skimming fat, because it hardened at the top and it was easy to scrape off the next day.

Tony

No garlic?

Jamie

I added finely chopped calamari olives and 2 T of homemade pesto. Absolutely delicious

Caroline W

I didn't use liver or ground pork but used sausage and ground beef and also added chopped shitake mushrooms from Trader Joe's (frozen) and found this sauce came out great.

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