Bolognese Sauce

Wow - Sorry for the long absence.  I started a new job last week!  It took me a few days to adjust to the schedule change, but I'm back.

Over the weekend I did some extra cooking to prepare for the week.  I find that being prepared is my best tool for success.  I made a pot of bolognese sauce on Sunday, divided it and froze half.  We will have 1 half for dinner tonight and the other half is in my freezer, ready for the next day (and there are plenty) when I've been too tired, lazy or busy to prepare in advance.

I love the comforting, at-home taste of a warm meat sauce over pasta.  This one's pretty basic, so feel free to customize it to your family's taste.

You can print the recipe here.

Here's what you'll need:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup bellpepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 can crushed tomatoes (28oz)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (28oz)
1 can tomato paste (6oz)
1/3 cup beef broth
Seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, Tony's, celery seed, garlic/onion powder)

Start by chopping your onions, bellpepper, carrots, garlic and parsley.  On this particular day, I had some pre-chopped veggies in my fridge so I just used those and added carrots.

I always debate the order of operations here.  Do I cook the meat first, then the vegetables in the rendered fat?  Do I cook the vegetables first in olive oil, then pull them out and add the meat?  This time I heated a little olive oil and threw it all in the pot together.  It seemed to work out great.  I'll go with everything all together from now on.

Let your meat get good and brown.  Then season and taste it.  Let it go a little longer, adjust seasonings, taste again.  This really isn't something I rush.

When the meat is full of flavor, add crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, tomato paste and beef broth. Cook for about 10 minutes.  Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break up the whole tomatoes.


Reduce to a simmer, cover. Allow to simmer for about 2 hours.  Taste again, and adjust seasonings.  Serve half right away if you want.  Then freeze half for another day.  I like to make this on Sunday, save half for Monday or Tuesday night and half goes in the freezer.  Then I have one meal for this week already finished before the working days begin.