One last comfort food recipe before you officially accept that it’s Spring.
Bolognese doesn’t seem to fit the “spring” category. I think I’m a few months late posting this but oh well. After this I will make a note to bring you colorful fruity recipes and fresh green vegetables layered on top of pizzas.
Until then lets make bolognese sauce. Because let’s face it, this stuff is the business no matter what time of the year it is. Plus it’s made in the slow cooker giving you minimal effort in the kitchen and more time to spend outside in the fresh Spring-y air.
When it comes to kitchen skills, I really consider myself more of a “baker” than a “chef”. While I love to cook in general, my heart will always be with the satisfaction of baked goods, chocolate filled desserts and homemade bread.
So when it comes to “cooking” the crockpot is my best friend. Some of the best meals ever to come out of my kitchen have been made in the crock pot. Like these Turkey Meatballs which were featured in World Lifestyle Magazine along with 19 other brilliant slow cooker recipes.
Just recently my mom brought home a Crock Pot magazine-book loaded with mouth watering recipe after mouth watering recipe. We have tried out a handful so far but this bolognese sauce really stuck with me. I only made a few modifications to the recipe like reducing the amount of pancetta used, adding in more carrots/celery and cooking the sauce with olive oil rather than butter.
The ingredient list may seem long and intimidating but don’t let that scare you off! It is a list filled with basic, everyday pantry staples like jarred tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs, carrots, celery, olive oil, etc. The meats used are extra lean ground chuck, ground turkey and pancetta. While I am usually not a fan of pancetta it really helps bring flavor to this recipe.
You will cook the pancetta first on a skillet with olive oil until it gets extremely crispy, that it will resemble bacon. And smell like it. Yummy.
After bringing your pancetta to a nice bacon-crisp you will start to brown your meat then add in your chopped carrots, celery, garlic and onion. And in no way will you even realize there are hidden vegetables in this sauce, which I LOVE. It’s basically a one pot meal served over your favorite pasta or in a sandwich. Awesome.
After you have slightly sautéed your veggies you will add in your tomato ingredients. The biggest flavor booster in this recipe is the dry red wine. I used Trader Joe’s Two buck chuck. It’s perfect for cooking with, not so much to drink with. Well I guess it depends how desperate you are. My summers in Italy were spent drinking wine out of boxes on occasion with no shame at all…
In any case, the wine really brings out a classic Italian flair to your bolognese sauce. Instead of simmering in the pan you will cook the sauce in the slow cooker for about six hours in order for the finished product to be fully absorbed and booming with flavor!
This is BY FAR my FAVORITE homemade bolognese sauce and it requires minimal effort + simple, good quality ingredients. It pairs best served over linguine or spaghetti + parmesan cheese and some wine on the side to live like a true Italian.
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
- Yield: Makes about 5 cups 1x
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef (or a mix of ground turkey + ground beef)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 slice bread of choice
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 pound pancetta, chopped
- 1 cup porcini mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 1/2–1 cup celery, chopped
- 1/2 large red onion, chopped
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup canned tomatoes, with juice
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
Instructions
- In a large bowl mash the the bread and milk together with fork until it forms a pasty texture. Mix in the beef, salt and pepper with your hands and knead together. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté your pancetta until fully cooked and brown. It will be very crispy and bring out a bacon aroma. This will take about 8-10 minutes.
- After making the pancetta very crispy, add in your ground beef and cook until browned. This should only take a few minutes. Then add in your mushrooms, carrots, celery, onion, garlic and nutmeg. Continue to saute until the vegetables are slightly softened, for about 2 minutes.
- Add in your tomato paste and flour, mix and cook for another minute until the flour is no longer visible. Then take the pan off heat and slowly pour in your red wine. Turn the heat back on to high and stir everything together well. Then pour in your canned tomato’s and chicken stock.
- Place the sauce into your slow cooker and cook on low for about 5-6 hours. Serve over your favorite pasta, in a sandwich or plain! Enjoy!