Everyone needs a simple, no fuss bolognese recipe up their sleeve. This is it. Minimal ingredients, and less than one hour from prep to plate.
This is not a five star pasta dish. There is nothing fancy about this. True to it’s name, it really is a simple bolognese. But it’s a good bolognese. And though it won’t be served up in an Italian restaurant, it gets served up on our dining table often and the plates always come back clean. So it’s a winner for me.
Jump to Recipe
This recipe begins with a soffritto, a fancy term for finely diced/minced onion, garlic, carrot and celery sautéed as a base for your flavouring. Some beef mince is then added and browned, then the tomato paste, a couple of tins of diced tomatoes, beef stock and dried herbs are added and after 45 minutes of simmering, you’ve got yourself a rich, flavoursome sauce to be stirred through your spaghetti.
Lastly, don’t forget to add freshly grated parmesan on top. That’s an absolute non-negotiable for bolognese in my opinion.
Variations
Extra Vegetables: This is a simple bolognese, with minimal vegetables (carrot and celery). You can add some in though if that’s what you prefer. You can add in up to approx 1-2 cups of vegetables in addition to what is already in this recipe without needing to adjust anything else. (Any more than this and you will need more liquid – either more tinned diced tomatoes or more stock). Good vegetable options are mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, grilled capsicum or roasted eggplant. Just pop them in at the same time as the sauce ingredients go in.
Mince: I use just beef mince in this recipe, but I’ve also made this with half beef and half pork, which was a delicious combination. I’ve also experimented with vegan mince and that also works well in this as a meat-free alternative. You could also use chicken or turkey mince as a leaner option to beef or pork, but they are not traditionally used in a bolognese and I honestly haven’t tried it myself to be able to tell you if it’s any good.
I hope you enjoy this simple weeknight wonder.
Laura x.
Simple Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 500 g beef mince
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 400g tinned diced Italian tomatoes
- 250 ml beef stock
- 1 tbsp dried Italian mixed herbs
- 2-3 dried bay leaves
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion, carrot and celery and mince the garlic cloves
- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan
- Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the oil and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes (until vegetables have softened) .
- Add beef mince to the saucepan and cook, breaking apart the mince with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes (or until mince has mostly cooked through).
- Add tomato paste to the mince and stir through.
- Add diced tomatoes, beef stock, Italian mixed herbs, bay leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper to the saucepan, and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Place lid on sauce pan and simmer for 45 minutes, occasionally stirring the sauce to avoid sauce sticking to the pan.
- Pick out the bay leaves and taste the sauce to see if any additionally seasoning is required.
- Serve on top of preferred pasta.