Spaghetti Bolognese — the Sauce That Gets to Simmer for an Hour
Brown the mince in batches, remove. Sweat finely diced onion, carrot and celery for 10 minutes, fry the tomato purée, return the meat, add wine and tomatoes, 1 dl milk, and simmer uncovered for at least 60 minutes. The hour is the difference between mince sauce and bolognese.
Bolognese is the dish everyone eats in almost every Swiss family — and usually it is a 20-minute mince sauce. The real thing needs nothing special, just time: an hour of gentle simmering until the meat is soft and the sauce thick. The good part: the hour needs no attention, and a double batch freezes perfectly. Cook it properly once, and three weeknights are saved.
Ingredients
- 600 g Minced beef
- 2 pieces Onions
- 2 pieces Carrots
- 2 pieces Celery sticks
- 2 pieces Garlic cloves
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Tomato purée
- 1½ dl Red wine
- 2 tins Tomatoes (chopped, 400 g each)
- 1 dl Milk
- 1 piece Bay leaf
- 1 tsp Oregano (dried)
- 1½ tsp Salt
- Pepper
- 600 g Spaghetti
- 80 g Parmesan (grated)
Method
- 1
Brown the meat
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot until very hot. Brown the mince in two batches until browned and crumbly — 5 minutes per batch, without stirring constantly. Remove.
- 2
Sweat the vegetables
Dice the onions, carrots and celery very finely, chop the garlic. Sweat in the remaining oil over medium heat for 10 minutes without browning. Add the tomato purée and fry 2 minutes.
- 3
Deglaze
Return the meat to the pot, deglaze with the red wine and reduce 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, milk, bay, oregano, salt and pepper.
- 4
Simmer
Bring to the boil, then simmer at the lowest heat for at least 60 minutes, half covered, stirring every 15 minutes. The sauce should thicken and stop weeping water at the edges. Two hours is even better.
- 5
Spaghetti and serve
Cook the spaghetti al dente in plenty of salted water, drain and toss with a ladle of sauce. Onto plates, more sauce on top, Parmesan over.
Tips
- The recipe makes six portions of sauce, so two meals for four. Freeze half — it keeps three months and is the start of a lasagne, pasta bake or chilli.
- The milk is no mistake. It tenderises the meat and rounds off the sauce — that is how it is cooked in Bologna. You cannot taste it.
- For children, blitz the vegetables in a food processor instead of dicing — they disappear into the sauce, and the sauce gets even thicker.
What can I substitute?
Mixed is juicier and cheaper. Sausage meat is the Bologna version — spicier and fattier.
Alcohol-free. The wine cooks off anyway, but the acidity needs replacing — hence the balsamic.
Finely diced celeriac tastes almost the same. Without celery a little depth is missing, but the sauce works.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
How long should bolognese simmer?
At least an hour, better two. Only then does the mince soften and give its flavour to the sauce; after 20 minutes it is still crumbly and the sauce watery. In Bologna it simmers three to four hours — at home one is enough if the rest is right.
Why is my bolognese watery?
Cooked too short or too much lid. The sauce must simmer uncovered or half covered so water evaporates. If still thin after an hour, lid off and reduce harder for 15 minutes. Never thicken with flour — you can taste it.
How much spaghetti per person?
100 g raw as a main for adults, 60 to 70 g for children, 80 g if there is salad too. Sauce: a good ladle, about 150 g per person. The recipe makes sauce for six.
Can I freeze bolognese?
Yes, it is the best sauce for it. In portions for one meal, keeps three months. Thaw in the fridge or warm from frozen over low heat with a splash of water. Freeze only the sauce, never with spaghetti.
How much does bolognese cost per person?
About 3 CHF per person with Swiss minced beef, spaghetti and Parmesan included. With mixed or promotional mince, under 2.50 CHF.
How you collect recipes
Paste a link
Copy the address of any recipe page — including this one. Ingredients, amounts and steps are recognised automatically.
Photograph a cookbook
Take a photo of a page from your cookbook. Even handwritten recipes from your grandmother get read.
Pull from Cookidoo
Got a Thermomix? Your Cookidoo recipes come into your collection with one click.
