Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe
This spaghetti Bolognese recipe and surprising Italian-Australian history of ‘spag bol’ comes courtesy of food writer Matt Preston, whose recently-released World of Flavour, The Recipes, Myths and Surprising Stories Behind the World’s Best-Loved Food is a cookbook as much as a myth-breaking culinary history that sets the record straight: ‘spag bol’ is not Italian, it’s Italian-Australian. It's republished here with permission of the book's publishers.
Servings: 8
Calories: 1228kcal
Equipment
- Stock Pot
Ingredients
- 125 ml olive oil
- 100 g pancetta or bacon finely chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 2 large celery stalks finely chopped
- 2 brown onions finely chopped
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 70 g tomato paste
- 500 g pork mince
- 500 g pork and veal mince
- 500 g beef mince
- 500 ml red wine
- 800 g diced tomatoes
- 750 ml chicken stock
- 500 ml tomato passata
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 6 cm piece of parmesan rind
- 4 cm piece of pith-free lemon peel
- 3 bay leaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 800 g spaghetti cooked, to serve
- 8 tbsp grated parmesan to serve
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta or bacon, carrot, celery and onion, and cook, stirring, for 8 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the sugar, garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until the tomato paste starts to darken slightly. Transfer mixture to a large heatproof bowl.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil in the pot. Cook the pork mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes until lightly browned. Transfer to the bowl with the vegetables. Repeat in two more batches with the remaining oil and pork and veal mince and beef mince. Set aside.
- Increase the heat to high. Add the wine to the pot and bring to the boil. Simmer for
- 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Deglaze the pot as you stir. Return the mince and veggie mixture to the pot. Add the tomato, stock, passata, Worcestershire, parmesan rind, lemon peel and bay leaves. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low. Tilt the lid so the pot is partially covered, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours or until the sauce has reduced and thickened and is a glossy dark red colour. Serve with cooked pasta and grated parmesan.