Phil’s Favorite Beef Bolognese

This dish holds a special place at our table—and in Phil’s heart! The slow simmer might seem like a labour of love, but it’s mostly just giving it the occasional stir while it works its magic. Trust me, the depth of flavour is worth it. We love serving it with baked jacket potatoes and salad on day one (a proper British tradition!) and twirling it with pasta the next—pure comfort food.

A rich, slow-simmered bolognese that’s hearty, comforting, and perfect for family dinners.

I love serving it over jacket potatoes one day and pasta the next. That slow-cooked goodness gets better and better with time!

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Phil’s Favorite Beef Bolognese

This may appear like a labour of love, but most of the time is spent allowing it to simmer and giving it the occasional stir which really isn´t labour intensive and believe me, the flavour will be worth it.

Servings 6 people

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Equipment

• Pour Saucepan with Lid
• Measuring Jug 1L
• Wooden Spoon
• Slotted Spoon

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 lbs minced beed
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 carrots finely diced
• 2 celery sticks finely diced
• 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 3 heaping tbsp tomato paste
• ¾ cup red wine
• 2 ½ cups beef broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup whole mile
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat the oil then add the carrots, celery and onion and saute until softened which will take around 6-7 minutes
  
• Add in the minced beef and break up with the spoon. Cook over a fairly high heat to get a good colour on the beef (colour is flavour) stir occasionally until the meat is no longer pink.
  
• At this stage I like to remove any excess fat and oil from the pan and I can assure you it will not affect either flavour or texture in a negative way so using a slotted spoon, tip the pan slight and spoon the excess liquid into a small jug.

  Be sure not to pour this down your kitchen sink as it will solidify and block drains. I use an empty bottle with a cap and once cooled pour it into the bottle and discard with my general waste.
  
• Add in the red wine and cook until the wine is reduced down before adding in the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and bay leaf.
  
• Allow to simmer for around one hour, stirring occasionally.
  
• Remove the bay leaf and pour in the milk. Stir to combine thoroughly, then allow to simmer for 30-60 minutes more, continuing to stir occasionally.

  Season as required with salt and pepper.
  
• On day one, I serve this with baked jacket potatoes and salad (a very British thing to do), and on day two, I serve it over pasta sprinkled with parmesan.
  

Course: Main Course

Keyword: Beef

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