Beef Mince Bolognese Sauce
I think the trick to a really rich, tasty and comforting bolognese sauce is the cooking time. The longer you cook the sauce for the richer the flavour will become, so yes this recipe does take a bit of time to cook, but once you have the sauce simmering away it’s pretty low maintenance and only needs an occasional stir. If you’re wanting a vegetarian meal you could swap the mince for some lentils.
Lycopene is found in tomatoes and is a type of carotenoid responsible for giving tomatoes their red colour. There is a considerable body of evidence suggesting that the antioxidant nature of lycopene provides anticancer properties and even some reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
500g beef mince (go for organic and grass fed if you can)
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped into chunks
1/4 or 1/2 cup red wine
700g passatta (tomato puree)
1 cup filtered water
1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Celtic sea salt
Black pepper
Your choice of pasta (I go for gluten free)
Optional - parmesan cheese or extra virgin olive oil for serving
Method
Heat oil in sauce pan on medium to low heat, add the onion. Once the onion has started to soften slightly add the garlic and continue to fry until the onion is translucent and soft.
Add the mince and brown.
Once the mince has browned add the red wine, passatta, water, parsley, carrot, nutmeg, salt and pepper. I always pour the passatta in first then add the water into the empty passatta bottle, then give the bottle a swirl to get any of the remaining passatta sauce and then add that into the sauce pan.
Put the lid on and bring the sauce to a boil.
Once the sauce is boiling, turn down to the lowest heat and simmer with the lid on for 2 hours, you can go longer if you like though! Give the sauce a stir occasionally. The sauce should reduce and thicken considerably.
Once the sauce is ready cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
Drain the pasta and then add the bolognese sauce to the pasta pot and stir through, adjust seasoning if required.
Serve with some parmesan cheese or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
