authentic spaghetti bolognese sauce recipe

Authentic Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

Published on by Renee

When I say I love spaghetti bolognese, I love spaghetti bolognese.

The 3rd word I ever muttered as a child (other than mama and dada, of course) was “spaghetti”, and it’s been my favourite food for as long as I can remember. I can eat spaghetti for breakfast, lunch and dinner and enjoy every bit of it.

Once I got started cooking myself, I needed to make a spaghetti for myself. But I needed to make it perfect. I learnt from the best when attempting my own spaghetti bolognese: Marcella Hazan, the queen of Italian home cooking’s cookbook, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. The foundation of this recipe is Marcella Hazan’s famous authentic bolognese sauce, but I have modified it quite a bit.

I made this spaghetti bolognese early in my marriage, and my husband declared that it is in fact the best spaghetti bolognese he’s ever had, and it really is amazing. Whenever I make and eat this, I’m amazed by it. Best of all, it’s gotten the thumbs up from every child I’ve made this for; my own little one and several of his friends included.

All credit to Marcella Hazan for teaching me how to make authentic spaghetti bolognese sauce. I hope you like my modified version.

Authentic Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup celery, chopped
  • 3/4 cup white onion, chopped
  • 3/4 cup carrot, chopped
  • 400g minced beef
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 x 250ml of canned plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
  • salt and pepper
  • parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

1. Chop the celery, onion and carrots to make little cubes, set aside.

2. Add the butter and the white onion into a large pot on medium heat, cook until clear, around 5 minutes. Add in the celery and carrots, add in some salt and cook for another few minutes.

3. Add in the minced beef, and break it apart with a fork. Add a pinch of salt and cook until the beef is browned.

4. Add in the milk and let it cook and bubble until all the milk has evaporated.

5. Add the canned tomatoes into the pot and crush them with the back of a wooden spoon or whatever you are cooking with, until they are nice and goopy. (Trying to sound somewhat professional but “goopy” is the apt description here.)

6. Give it all a good stir in, add in some pepper and turn to low heat and let it simmer for at least 2 hours, 3 is perfection. Make sure the lid is open so any liquids can be evaporated.

6. Cook your spaghetti according to the packet. Serve on a plate with the bolognese sauce and sprinkle parmesan on top.

Buon appetito!

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P.S. You’ll also love this Super Easy Italian Tomato Sauce.