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.
Equipment
- 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.
