Spaghetti Alla Bolognese, known to most people as good old Spag Bol! Everyone has their own version of this Italian classic. Come try my recipe, slowly simmered for 2 hours with red wine and passata to create a deeply flavourful meat sauce.
What Is Spaghetti Bolognese?
Everyone is familiar with this great dish. Inspired by the Italian classic, it evolved into a dish of its own right outside of Italy and can vary hugely. Bolognese sauce is a rich savoury meat sauce. The flavour comes from aromatic vegetables like onions and carrots, tomatoes, herbs, all rounded off with a nice big glass of red wine. I love cooking my Spaghetti Alla Bolognese sauce. Its the perfect dish for a lazy day, where you get to enjoy the cooking process in full, crack on some music and pour a cheeky glass of red wine.
What makes this dish truly special is the cooking process. The secret lies in taking your time – slowly simmering the sauce over low heat allows all those flavours to blend. Imagine yourself stirring away while savouring the gorgeous aroma wafting through your kitchen. You can cook this in under an hour but it’s so much better when left to simmer slowly. Trust me; it’s worth every minute!
Bolognese Vs Ragu
- Bolognese sauce and ragù are both rich, meaty tomato sauces that are staples in Italian cuisine
- Bolognese sauce is actually a form of ragù, with official name of ragù alla bolognese
- The main differences between the two sauces lie in the ingredients and cooking techniques used
- Bolognese sauce is typically made with minced meat and includes white wine and milk, while ragù can be made with various cuts of meat and uses red wine
- Bolognese sauce pairs best with flat pasta like tagliatelle, while ragù goes well with a variety of pasta shapes
- Both sauces can be stored in the fridge for a few days and taste even better when reheated the next day
The ingredients used in Bolognese sauce and ragù are what set these two sauces apart. While they share some common elements, there are key differences that give each sauce its own unique flavour profile. Here are the main ingredients that distinguish Bolognese sauce from ragù:
- Tomato sauce: Bolognese sauce typically uses tomato sauce as the base, while ragù can be made with or without tomatoes.
- Tomato paste: Bolognese sauce often includes a small amount of tomato paste to enhance the tomato flavour, while ragù may not contain any tomato paste.
- Ground beef: Bolognese sauce is traditionally made with ground beef, while ragù can include various cuts of meat, such as beef, pork, lamb, or sausage.
- Olive oil: Bolognese sauce is typically cooked in olive oil, while ragù may use a combination of olive oil and other fats, such as pancetta or bacon.
- Ground pork: Bolognese sauce may include a small amount of ground pork for added richness, while ragù can feature ground pork as one of its main meat components.
Bolognese vs Carbonara
- Bolognese and Carbonara are both popular Italian pasta dishes with distinct differences in ingredients and preparation methods.
- Bolognese sauce is a rich and meaty sauce made with ground meat, tomatoes, and aromatic vegetables, while Carbonara is a creamy sauce made with eggs, cheese, and pancetta or guanciale.
- Bolognese sauce originated in Bologna, Italy, while Carbonara sauce has roots in Rome.
- The key ingredients for Bolognese sauce include ground meat, tomato puree, onions, carrots, celery, and red wine, while Carbonara sauce features eggs, Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, and pancetta or guanciale.
- Bolognese sauce is traditionally slow-cooked for several hours, while Carbonara sauce is quickly prepared by mixing cooked pasta with a sauce made from eggs and cheese.
- Bolognese sauce is often paired with long and wide pasta like tagliatelle or pappardelle, while Carbonara sauce is typically served with spaghetti or fettuccine.
Ingredients
This Spag Bol recipe is based around these simple ingredients:
- Vegetables – I like to use carrot, onion and celery to make a flavourful soffrito. This helps to provide a base of flavour to build upon. Some people add garlic, which you can also add if you like.
- Meat – the traditional choice of meat is usually a mix of pork mince and beef mince. I am not a fan of pork so I opt to use 100% beef but you can choose your favourite meat to suit.
- Red Wine – this gives the sauce body and deeper flavour, although you can skip it or even try using white. I prefer to use red as I feel it suits the overall dish more, plus I am a huge red wine fan 😜
- Rosemary – I have used rosemary twice here, chopped and cooked in the sauce, and a whole rosemary sprig fried to use as a garnish. You don’t really need the fried rosemary sprig if you don’t have enough, but I had a whole packet and figured mmm, why not try frying it (turns out frying herbs other than sage is a thing, who knew!). Thyme could also be used here, you can use your favourite herbs.
- Smoked Pancetta – you could omit this if you don’t have it or replace it with smoked bacon quite easily. It adds an extra dimension to the sauce and gives it an overall flavour boost.
- Whole Milk – I love adding this as it makes the dish a little more richer and helps to cut through any acidity from the tomatoes. You could use semi-skimmed milk as an alternative here, but I would avoid skimmed milk due to it being so low fat, the fat in the milk helps to contribute to the silky mouthfeel of the sauce.
- Passata – this is used along with water to build up the sauce. I love using passata as it is smooth but you could use chopped tomatoes aswell.
How To Make Spaghetti Alla Bolognese
This recipe is so easy to make and you don’t need fancy chopping skills or anything super complicated. Follow these key steps for a bangin’ Spag Bol!
- Sweat your soffrito – cooking the soffrito gently for around 15-20 minutes over low heat helps to develop the flavour from your vegetables and intensify your flavour base. I opt for blitzing the vegetables as it is quick and everything ends up uniformly small – you can get as much flavour out of the vegetables as possible this way.
- Browning the meat – this is an important step as the meats need to be coloured to develop flavour.
- Slowly simmer the meat sauce – this is important to get a good deep flavour from your sauce. It’s perfect for a more hands-off type dinner!
- Toss your pasta in the sauce – in some recipes, the sauce is just placed on top of the pasta. I prefer to toss the sauce through the pasta and place some on top. I like to see the pasta stained with the sauce, plus it helps to bring everything together and have that flavourful sauce running right through the dish.
FAQ’s
Sugar is usually added to help cut the acidity from the tomatoes used, usually cheaper varieties. I have found using milk can do a similar job so this recipe doesn’t need the sugar but as always – taste, taste, taste! You can always add it if you feel your version needs it.
The answer is usually the longer the better! You could make this recipe with around 30 minutes or so of simmering time, whilst cutting out the water used. It would still have flavour but the magic in this recipe is the slow simmer.
Spag Bol is usually made with spaghetti but you could use any of your favourite pasta. My favourite pasta is spaghetti, tagliatelle and rigatoni and I have used it with all of them equally well. If you don’t have any pasta try it with rice
Watch How I Make It
Spaghetti Alla Bolognese
Ingredients
- 400 g Beef Mince
- 400 ml passata
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stick
- 1 onion
- 1 tbsp of chopped rosemary around 1 large sprig
- 400 ml water more as needed
- 100 ml whole milk
- 1 rosemary sprig fried per person for garnish.
- Grated parmesan cheese
- 100 g dried spaghetti per person
Instructions
- Begin by roughly peeling and chopping your vegetables then place them all in the blender and blits to a very fine dice but quite a puree
- Add the blitzed vegetables to a preheated casserole dish with olive oil and simmer on low heat. Partially cover with a lid and leave to gently soften for around 20 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure nothing sticks. The heat should be low, a gentle sizzle. The aim is not to devlep colour on the vegetables.
- Whilst the vegetables simmer, fry off the pancetta over medium high heat in another pan until it starts to colour, then add the mince and cook through until well browned, breaking it up with the back of the spoon as you go.
- Once the vegetables have softened and visibly reduced slightly, add the browned mince and stir to fully combine.
- Add the chopped rosemary, stir and cook for 2 minutes
- Now add the glass of red wine and bring to a lively simmer – continue to cook until virtually all the red wine has reduced down to nothing
- Add the tomatoes and water then bring up to the boil and reduce to a gentle simmer
- Simmer uncovered for 2 hours, stirring regularly and adding more water if required
- After 2 hours, add the whole milk, stir and simmer for 30 minutes
- Cook the spaghetti around 10 minutes from when you want to serve.
- Taste and seaason, then add the sauce to the drained spaghetti and toss to combine thoroughly before plating in pasta bowls
- Finish with freshly grated parmesan and fried rosemary sprig (if using)
Notes
- To make the fried rosemary sprigs, simply heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook for around 15 seconds on each side, then place on kitchen towel. This can be done whilst the pasta is boiling.
- Check the sauce regularly and stir to make sure nothing is sticking or burning.
- Simmer the sauce uncovered to allow the meat sauce to reduce, thicken and come together properly
- Salt your pasta water. I use a large handful per pot of water that I use for boiling pasta. It may seem like a large amount of salt but the pasta needs it to give it flavour. It doesnt absorb it all and you can’t really overdo it. Think seawater salty!
