You always know it’s going to be a good dinner when my mom gets a packet of mince out the freezer and asks our delightful helper, Bongi, to make Bolognese sauce.

Years ago, Bongi went on a short cooking course where she learned how to make yummy stews, sides, fish, and (best of all) Bolognese sauce. She has since added her own special touches to the Bolognese sauce to make it, well, the best ever.

Here is a visual of Bongi and her amazing Bolognese sauce:

This easy pasta sauce is incredibly tasty, yet the only spices in there are salt and pepper. This recipe doesn’t call for any stock. The veggies (carrots and green pepper) add their own lovely natural flavours, and the thyme and red wine do all the rest.

How to Make the Bolognese Sauce

Bongi always laughs at my streaming face when I cut onions. Here’s her trick: first soak the onions and garlic in a bowl of water for a couple of minutes. Then, cut the onions finely and mince the garlic and ginger. You are now safe from uncontrollable tears!

Next, drizzle some olive oil into a medium-sized pot and heat it up. Add the onion, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and grated carrots and fry for another couple of minutes.

Now turn the heat up as high as it goes. Use your fingers to crumble the beef mince in finely. Stir for about 5-10 minutes, until the beef is evenly browned. Add the red wine. Turn the heat down and place the lid on the pot. 

After 15 minutes of boiling, the mince should look pretty dry. Remove the whole tomatoes from the tin and chop them up finely. Add them to the pot along with their sauce. Spool out the tin with a little water. Add the chopped green pepper then close the pot and allow the mince to boil for an hour, or until succulent and flavourful. Add more water if desired.

One last step that Bongi often includes is blitzing the Bolognese sauce with a stick blender for a short while to make it a bit smoother, and seemingly richer. This step is optional and she didn’t do it this time, but I recommend giving it a go one time to see what you prefer.

How to Use & Store the Sauce

Obviously, this sauce is deeeeeelicious with any type of pasta. Some yummy toppings (although not necessary) are coriander pesto or fresh herbs (like rocket or basil) and grated parmesan.

You can also use it to make a bunch of other yummy things like lasagne, moussaka, shepherd’s pie, fancy toasted sarmies, quesadillas, stuffed peppers…the list goes on.

Another great thing about this recipe is that it is totally freezable.

Simply pop the cool sauce into a container or plastic bag and freeze. It’ll last for a good couple of months.

When you’re ready to eat it, defrost it (in the microwave if you’re impatient) then bring it to a simmer in a pot before serving.

Now, go off and cook up a feast! And don’t forget that your pasta should be al dente!

Print Recipe

Bolognese Sauce

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Dinner

By Bongi – Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes – Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

This hearty and tasty Bolognese sauce is easy to make and pretty healthy thanks to the subtle addition of veggies and the lack of stock.

Ingredients

• 2 onions, peeled
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled
• Small piece of ginger (about thumbnail size), peeled
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• 500g beef mince
• 2T red wine
• 400g tinned whole tomatoes
• 1 green pepper, finely chopped

Instructions

1

To make cutting easy and make the flavour less intense, first soak the onions and garlic in a bowl of water for a couple of minutes. Cut the onions finely and mince the garlic and ginger.

2

Drizzle some olive oil into a medium-sized pot and heat. Add the onion, thyme, salt, and pepper. Saute until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and carrots and fry for another couple of minutes.

3

Turn the heat up as high as it goes. Use your fingers to crumble the beef mince in finely. Stir for about 5-10 minutes, until the beef is evenly browned. Add the red wine. Turn the heat down and place the lid on the pot.

4

After 15 minutes of boiling, the mince should look pretty dry. Remove the whole tomatoes from the tin and chop them up finely. Add them to the pot along with their sauce. Spool out the tin with a little water. Add the chopped green pepper then close the pot and allow the mince to boil for an hour, or until succulent and flavourful. Add more water if desired.

Notes

One last step that Bongi often includes is blitzing the Bolognese sauce with a stick blender for a short while to make it a bit smoother, and seemingly richer. This step is optional and she didn't do it this time, but I recommend giving it a go one time to see what you prefer.