Rich ragu

Rich ragu

By BBC Good Food team
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(32 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins Cook: 1 hr, 45 mins plus chilling

Easy

Serves 4

A rich, versatile meat sauce: serve it Bolognese-style with spaghetti or use it as a base for lasagne or moussaka

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal705
  • fat15g
  • saturates6g
  • carbs79g
  • sugars9g
  • fibre7g
  • protein54g
  • salt0.9g
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Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 1 onion, halved and finely chopped
    Onion

    Onion

    un-yun

    Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

  • 1 celery stick, finely diced
  • 1 large carrot, finely diced
    Carrot

    Carrot

    ka-rot

    The carrot, with its distinctive bright orange colour, is one of the most versatile root…

  • 600g pack minced beef steak
    Steak

    Steak

    Stayk

    Steak is essentially a boneless thick or thin slice of red meat, cut across the grain of a large…

  • 3 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 150ml red wine (or use extra beef stock)
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 400g spaghetti
  • 50g grated parmesan, plus extra to serve (optional)
    Parmesan

    Parmesan

    parm-ee-zan

    Parmesan is a straw-coloured hard cheese with a natural yellow rind and rich, fruity flavour. It…

  • side salad, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion, celery and carrot. Fry over a medium heat for 10 mins, stirring now and then, until softened and starting to colour.

  2. Stir in the mince and cook, breaking up any clumps of meat with a wooden spoon, until browned.

  3. Add the tomato purée, garlic and thyme, and cook for 1-2 mins more. Pour in the wine, if using, and increase the heat to boil off most of the alcohol. Reduce the heat, stir in the stock and season. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave to cook gently for 1 hr-1 hr 15 mins until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.

  4. Remove the lid and continue cooking for 15 mins. Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions. Reserve a mugful of the cooking water, then drain the spaghetti and add to the ragu with the Parmesan. Toss well and add a little pasta water to help the sauce coat the spaghetti. Serve with a side salad and extra cheese, if you like.

  • Recipe Tip

    Ingredient swaps

    This recipe uses minced beef but you can use pork, or half of each. If you'd rather not add red wine, replace with extra beef stock. Smoked bacon also makes a tasty addition.

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Comments, questions and tips

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Depeyre
13th May, 2020
The soffritto cellery and carotts onion excellent. I added tomatoes and stock other wise it would be the same as my shepwrds pie mix lol. I think a good ragu needs tomatoes as well. Also i used Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram, Rosemarry, Sage and Parsely + Dried red peppers otherwise known as Italian Seasoning. Thyme again on it own us like too anglo version.
beckyb
7th Dec, 2019
1.05
Awful. Followed the recipe to the letter, no tinned tomatoes in a bolognese sauce? Very bland, tomato purée is not enough to make a ragu. The red wine added no depth of flavour. Very disappointing
rebeccaj28
16th Jun, 2019
5.05
love this recipe - very easy and delicious!
mhchevalier's picture
mhchevalier
29th Oct, 2018
I have made bolognese for my family before, but this was much nicer with a richer flavour. I don't have much experience and this recipe was easy to use. My only complaint is that the video would not work for me and I could not find mince that was 600g. Next time, I will try it with rice.
marcb.'s picture
marcb.
11th Nov, 2016
hey good recipe, loved it. But i changed it abit and i really think it does alot to it in terms of flavour. i use 300g of minced pork and 300g minced beef, And after browning the meat, i add about 500 ml of fat free milk, reduce that, with open lid, add about 1l of stock. Keep reducing and adding water. I normally cook my bolognese for about 4-5 hours.
aussiechick
29th Oct, 2016
5.05
this is so good, best Bolognese sauce I've ever made & so easy. I've made it many times & vary it sometimes eg. substituted half the stock with some passata that needed using up, also makes brilliant shepherd's pie (ran out of pasta that night)
Pardy's picture
Pardy
15th Feb, 2018
5.05
Anyone tried this with mushrooms? Do they freeze OK?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
22nd Feb, 2018
Thanks for your question. Yes you include mushrooms and it's no problem to freeze them in this dish.
Pink0911's picture
Pink0911
17th Sep, 2019
Also if you use 50/50 pork and beef this makes a amazing meatballs dish.
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