Receta Bolognese Sauce Cheap Bastid Style
In case you haven’t guessed, we like ‘sketti. All kinds of ‘sketti. ‘Sketti with meat sauce. ‘Sketti with meatballs. Baked ziti. Lasagne. ‘Sketti Abbazabba (Mrs. CB’s term for Spaghetti Carbonara. Shrimp ‘n ‘Sketti. You name it. We like it.
It’s easy and it’s cheap. And I like cheap. I go through a lot of Hunt’s Spaghetti Sauce–$1 for a 28 oz. can. I like it better than any of the sauces that come in a jar. I think what happens with the sauce in a jar is that it’s pretty much the same sauce but the glass and lid and the “autograph” costs more than the can. “I’m just sayin’”.
So, a couple of months back I get thinking of Bolognese sauce. Most spaghetti sauces would like to claim to be a version of Bolognese but they’re not. According to Food Nouveau there is a whole list of “rules” about what constitutes Bolognese sauce. (Apparently in 1982 the Academia Italiana della Cucina officially registered the recipe with Bologna Chamber of Commerce).
And arguably, the most important statement in the recipe is this: “Tomatoes are not a main ingredient in the sauce. It is a meat sauce first and foremost.” I agree. The times when I’ve eaten Spaghetti Bolognese (few and far between unfortunately) it has invariably been about the meat and meat flavor rather than tomatoes and seasonings.
Food Nouveau says that the classic recipe must contain onions, celery, carrots, pancetta, ground beef, tomatoes, milk and white wine. Well, Cheap Bastid’s version has most of these. I didn’t use pancetta (it’s way too expensive) but you can add some finely chopped bits of rendered bacon. And, I don’t use wine in my cooking and didn’t see the need for any extra acid in this dish.
Most of the time I can do a ‘Sketti Dinner” in 30-40 minutes start to finish. You’re supposed to spend at least 4 hours simmering Bolognese sauce—time I didn’t have. But I managed to let it simmer for about 2 hours, reducing it down to a thick marriage of beef and vegetables and broth and milk with a touch of tomato.
And it’s actually pretty simple. The hard part of this meal was my first ever attempt at handmaking fresh pasta. And the results of the two were incredible. This sauce is meant for fresh pasta—pasta with some tooth and substance. But you can also use dried pasta. Especially since it’s quicker and easier. I didn’t really have anything else to do while I let the Bolognese simmer down to it’s viscuous goodness and the pasta took maybe a half hour to make (and I’m sure that I can get that down to about 20 minutes with a bit of practice). Besides, it can’t be too hard because Mrs. CB told me while taking some photos that there I wasn’t swearing at all.
Summary: Sometimes you crave a spaghetti sauce that’s beefy and flavorful but without the tomato bite. Cheap Bastid’s Bolognese Sauce is simple a full of the flavor where the beef is the star. Try it tonight.
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrots
- 1 cup celery
- 1 cup white or yellow onion
- 1 Roma tomato
- 1 tbsp minced garlic (2-3 cloves worth)
- ¾-1 lb 85% lean ground beef
- 2-3 slices bacon (optional)
- 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
- 1 cup milk
- 1 ½-2 cups beef broth
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves or Italian seasoning
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp oil—olive or canola
Instructions
Get out a Dutch oven or your slow cooker. Get out your chef’s knife and cutting board along with a couple of small bowls.
Dice carrots, celery and onion to about ¼” size and put in a bowl.
Chop tomato into ¼” pieces and put in a bowl (yes seeds and all).
Chop bacon into about ¼” size and put in a small bowl.
Put Dutch oven or the cooking pot from your slow cooker on your stove’s big burner. Turn heat to medium high. Squirt 1-2 tbsp oil into pot. Let pot heat and then add the carrots, celery and onion.
Stir occasionally and let the vegetables soften—about 6 minutes or so. Add a bit of salt.
Turn the heat down just a skosh and move the vegetables toward the side of the pan. Add the bacon if you’re using it and let it start to render. You don’t want it browned and crispy, you want it rendered—about 4-5 minutes worth.
Mix everything up and move towards the sides again. Add the garlic and stir.
Add the beef and let it start to cook. Give it 3-4 minutes then start moving it around, making sure that it all breaks up and starts to incorporate into the rendered bacon and the vegetables.
Get all this blended together…it’s going to start smelling good. When the beef is no longer pink it’s time to turn off the burner and move the pot over to the slow cooker if that’s what you’re using or to turn the heat down on the stove burner so that it’s at a simmer.
Stir in the tomato paste, milk and beef broth (I also use beef “stock” ice cubes that I make for more richness). Let this come to a simmer, stir it up really good and then add the chopped up tomato.
Note: If you want to use some WHITE wine, now is the time to add it.
Add salt and pepper and other seasoning (thyme, Italian seasoning).
Cover and let it simmer for 1 ½-2 hours until it has reduced down to a thick, rich, beefy sauce. (And if needed, you can add a bit more milk and broth during the simmer).
Serve over dried or homemade pasta.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 2 hour(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
This is going to taste decidedly different from “typical” spaghetti sauce. The focus is on a full beefy flavor rather than on a “tomatoey” flavor. That’s the essence of Bolognese sauce. And yes, this cooks down to a really thick sauce and it goes a long way. You want it thick.
We served this with my first ever try at making handmade pasta. And it was double good because of the “tooth”, texture and flavor of the homemade pasta. It’s worth the effort and there’s plenty of time to make it while the sauce simmers. In fact, while you’re making the pasta the aroma of the pot of sauce will tease you and remind you of just what kind of goodness you’re creating.
Your anticipation is going to grow as you crank up your pot of pasta water to cook the bed that your beefy Bolognese sauce will rest on and that you’ll use to slurp up all that tasty goodness.
Yeah, this is pretty simple and straightforward. It’s a taste treat for those of us who have longed for something other than the tomato dominated sauces we’ve eaten over the years. And it’s cheap!
The Cheap Bastid Test: The vegetables cost about $1. The ground beef about $3 and you’ll use about $1 worth of bacon—if you add bacon. A 6 oz. can of tomato paste was $.59. And let’s pro rate the milk and beef broth to about $.50. That brings this whole pot of sauce, that will feed 4, to a whopping $5.09. That’s what? $1.02 per person. We got a huge dinner out of it and 3 lunches.
That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!