Description
Classic Italian Pappardelle Bolognese features a richly simmered meat sauce made from ground beef, soffritto base, milk, wine, and slow-cooked tomatoes. This hearty pasta dish is exquisitely tenderized with slow simmering for over two hours, served over wide ribbons of pappardelle pasta, and finished with savory grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for a truly authentic taste of Italy.
Ingredients
For the Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely minced
- 2 celery ribs, finely minced
- 2 medium carrots, finely minced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1-2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ tsp fresh cracked pepper, or to taste
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup milk
- ¾ cup white wine
- 28 oz passata or 28 oz can San Marzano or Italian crushed plum tomatoes with juice
For the Pasta and Serving
- 1 lb pappardelle, tagliatelle, or rigatoni pasta
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare vegetables: Finely mince the celery, carrots, and onion until they are very small, almost melting when cooked to form the soffritto base of the sauce.
- Cook vegetables: Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in a large pot or dutch oven. Add butter and melt it. Stir in the minced onion, carrot, and celery and cook for 10-15 minutes until onions are translucent and the mixture is soft, stirring occasionally.
- Cook beef: Add the ground beef in chunks to the soffritto. Season with kosher salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Brown the meat evenly, then stir in the milk and cook until absorbed, about 3 minutes. Next, add the white wine and simmer until reduced.
- Add tomatoes: Pour in the tomatoes and stir until all ingredients are covered in the tomato juice. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer.
- Simmer sauce: Let the sauce gently bubble with the lid partially covering the pot for 2½ hours, stirring occasionally. If it becomes too thick or dry, add a little water or beef stock and continue simmering up to 3 hours for deeper flavor. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
- Boil pasta: Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente following package instructions. Time the pasta so it finishes cooking around the same time as the sauce. Reserve one cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.
- Combine sauce and pasta: Toss the pasta into the sauce gently, adding pasta water in small amounts as needed to create a silky sauce coating the noodles. Use only enough pasta water to reach the desired consistency.
- Serve: Plate the pasta and top with generous grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Passata or crushed San Marzano tomatoes are preferred for authentic flavor.
- Simmering the sauce slowly allows the flavors to deepen and intensify for a richer taste.
- Reserving pasta water is key to achieving the perfect sauce consistency when combining with pasta.
- Using milk in the sauce tenderizes the beef and balances acidity from the tomatoes and wine.
- You can substitute ground beef with a mix of pork and beef for an even more traditional Bolognese.
