Bolognese Sauce – Marcella Hazan (Video)

Marcella Hazan was born in 1924 in a town named Cesenatico in Emiglio-Romana. Her cookbook is one of only two that I actually own, the other one you will hear about in another recipe in the future. Future. She was an amazing cook, and her recipes are tried and true, and this one has been called the “Gold Standard” Bolognese sauce. 

This is another recipe where my personal preference is to use ground beef, ground veal and ground pork in combination with the Italian sofrito, which is the onion, carrots and celery. The key to this recipe however, is the nutmeg. Never before would I have thought to put nutmeg into an Italian sauce recipe. In fact, when I first read it, I almost didn’t do it. Needless to say, I am so glad that I did, this has become our family’s absolute favorite sauce. I usually quadruple this recipe, and then once it cools, I freeze it into quantities for each dinner.

The other ingredient in this recipe that I was very hesitant about using was milk. I mean, this sauce is tomato-based and it has meat in it.

WHY USE MILK? I found out that the reason is milk contains calcium which may have an effect on an enzyme in the meat itself that breaks down the proteins, this information comes from Shirley Corner at “Fine Cooking”. that tenderize the meat when cooking.

Trust me, this sauce is simply the best Bolognese sauce ever. I haven’t found anything quite like it, and I hope that you’ll give it a try. Let’s jump right in.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• ¼ pound veal
• ¼ pound pork
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbs butter plus 1 for tossing pasta
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1 1/3 cup diced carrots
• 2 cups milk
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 2 cups wine
• 3 cups tomatoes

Instructions

Chop carrots, celery and onions.

Cook Onion in oil and butter over medium heat until translucent.  Add carrots and celery, cook 2 minutes more, stirring to coat vegetables.

Add the ground beef, veal and pork, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until meat is no longer pink.

Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely.

Add in wine and nutmeg, stir well. Let simmer until the wine has evaporated.

Add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the mixture begins to bubble, turn the heat down so low that the sauce is barely simmering, and cook for @ 3 hours.

It should be very thick when done. 

You can separate any fat that remains before serving over tagliatelle or your preferred pasta. 

That’s it!  This sauce freezes incredibly well, and I always make at least double the amount for just that reason.  Please let me know if you try this delicious recipe.

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