Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce
- Total Time
- At least 4 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 heaping cups, for about 6 servings and 1½ pounds pasta
- 1tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta
- ½cup chopped onion
- ⅔cup chopped celery
- ⅔cup chopped carrot
- ¾pound ground beef chuck (or you can use 1 part pork to 2 parts beef)
- Salt
- Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
- 1cup whole milk
- Whole nutmeg
- 1cup dry white wine
- 1½cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
- 1¼ to 1½pounds pasta
- Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table
Preparation
- Step 1
Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring vegetables to coat them well.
- Step 2
Add ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well and cook until the beef has lost its raw, red color.
- Step 3
Add milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating -- about ⅛ teaspoon -- of nutmeg, and stir.
- Step 4
Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add ½ cup of water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Stir to mix the fat into the sauce, taste and correct for salt.
- Step 5
Toss with cooked drained pasta, adding the tablespoon of butter, and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Kim
I cannot comment of the taste of the sauce. It was cooling and I ran a short errand. In the meantime, my 8 year old Labrador Retriever, Jake, (who had never, ever bothered anything in the kitchen) somehow got the pot off of the cooktop and ate all of the sauce. The worst part was that I had tripled the recipe, so Jake ate 3 pounds of Bolognese sauce! I am certain he would rate the sauce a 5. We had to go out for dinner, but I will make the recipe again and post relevant feedback!PS Jake is fine.
Rob Ron
At the end of the cooking process am I to remove the separated fat. I'm new to this.
Andrew from New York
This was a great and helpful guide. Added a few bits more here, reduced a few things there and ended up with a great bolognese.
I have to laugh at the people who are complaining about it not being good. You're saying that you had something on your stove top for 3 hours and not once did you taste it? This is cooking not baking. You taste everything at every step along the way and make adjustments. It is the lazy cook that blames the recipe
Mark
I've been making this sauce for 25 years. It comes out great every time. I can say that it works with ground beef or a mixture of beef, pork and/or veal. I can also say that this sauce is 97.32% as good after 1 hour as it is after 3 hours, so if you're impatient. Noting that it takes about 1 hour to get to step 4, so if you started cooking a bit late, when you get to step 4, you can eat it with minimal reduction in quality after one hour of cooking.
Maria
I have the 1979 version of the book. The proportions of ingredients in my cookbook are very different.
For 3/4 lb of beef, go with:
3 tbs each - olive oil and butter
2 tbs each chopped onion, celery and carrot
1/2 c milk
2 c canned Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped.
My recipe calls for adding the wine and cooking off, before adding the milk.
I always make a triple or quadruple recipe. I cut down on the amount of butter/oil I use - never more than 4-6 tbs of each. It freezes well.
Creggio
Marcella has never never let me down. No exception here. If you have had less than a satisfactory result, less thaN a religious experience, try this: 1. Do what she says—EXACTLY. 2. Tell Alexa to play Puccini or Verdi 3. Use the heavy bottom pot. 4. Do NOTHING to make any step happen more quickly. 7. Don’t deviate from her instructions. You will have a different result. Tanti saluti.
Brian T Hunt
Authentic. Using a broad, flat noodle such as parpadelle is essential. Chop the vegetables pretty fine- they seem to disappear, but are actually part of the chunks in the ragu. The tip about using a little butter and a little starchy pasta water to toss the sauce with the pasta is also important. And spring for the real Parmesan-Reggiano- desecrating a five-hour ragu with stuff from the green can would not only be disastrously counter-productive and sad, but borderline immoral. :)
Linda
This the the best Bolognese recipe there is in my opinion. Btw... Ground chuck is 80/20 ground beef. That is also known as 80%. Any leaner beef and the sauce would not be correct. We do not find it too fatty in the least. You need the butter and whole milk for this sauce to be the way it is supposed to be. Using turkey and skim milk might give you a tasty end result, but it is not Marcella's sauce. As far as I am concerned this recipe is perfect as written . No changes necessary.
Lorraine
I am making this right now and it is going great. I really just wanted to say that I love the expression, "laziest of simmers".
Patricia Garcia
Marcella hailed from the Northern Adriatic coast, where seafood was the most commonly available. She only learned to cook after she was married, trying to please Victor, who was and is an oenophile. She was a gifted cook. I wonder how many of the complainers bothered with the nutmeg...it is the most defining flavor in a true Bolognese sauce, which this most definitely is
Charlie
I've been making this for over 30 years. I cook it exactly for 5 hours. The difference in the taste when you cook it for 3 hours (more bland) and 5 hours is incredible and well worth the time. It ends up being a thick, concentrated sauce that you don't pour on top of the pasta but that you toss into the pasta.
Max
Holy goodness. I'm amazed at the number of people who are absolutely sure that the version of Bolognese that they prefer is the one, true, authentic version. I imagine there are as many variations as there are kitchens in Bologna, folks.
If I could add anything to the conversation, it would be to throw a little starchy pasta water in with the sauce and pasta as they are being tossed together, and really bring it all together.
Amanda
No; it's just a signal that it's finished cooking ("ready to eat"). When sauce cooks long enough that the fat separates it 1) improves the taste of the ingredients, and 2) improves the appearance of the dish. Separated fat looks and tastes beautiful in a dish--it often takes on the deepest colors and flavors in the pot, and is one measure that separates an amateur's dish from a professional's. So, yes! The fat is meant to stay in the pot!
marcolius
I've made this sauce many times, and I like it for what it is. I love to doctor things, too, but sometimes a classic is a classic. That being said, I would add two observations:
-Fresh, blanched, peeled, and chopped tomatoes work well, too. Lean toward longer cooking time. Haven't needed to add water when using fresh.
-I finely mince the vegetables, particularly the carrot and celery. Otherwise, it has a "beef stew" appearance that my family finds less appealing.
m
Oh goodness no! Fear not the fat! Fear the pasta more.
Patti Travaglio
Cannot be improved I have used as little as as 1/2 # of beef, leaving everything else the same
Kitster3
I'm shocked at how many people liked this. I thought the milk prevented the sauce from tasting meaty. And I think just a good a sauce can be made with far less cooking time. And I really dislike the carrots and celery in it. To each his own, I guess!
Wannabe Gourmet
I first heard about this in my search for no-frills, authentic, genuinely GOOD recipes. This Bolognese checks all of those boxes. Simple, easy, doable for anybody. Just like everyone else is saying: FOLLOW THIS RECIPE TO A T. Do not skip a single step. Some steps seem odd (never have I cooked milk into ground beef?) but they are ESSENTIAL. My one mistake was simmering the sauce for only 1.5 hours...it was excellent with that amount of time, but simmering it for 3 surely makes it divine.
Bridget G.
I wasn't sure how to tell if the liquids had boiled away, so I wrote to NYT Cooking. Here's what they said: "The bubbling of liquids will change as the liquid reduces. At first, the bubbling will be vigorous, but as the liquid level decreases, the bubbles will become smaller and more intermittent. You should look for the liquid to become thicker and more syrupy. If you see a thick, concentrated residue rather than a liquid, it's a good sign that most of the liquid has evaporated."
M. Britton
I've been making this for over 20 years. It is amazing. I chop the vegetables in my mini cuisinart (also 20 years old:)) and they end up pretty fine, except for the carrots, which is fine. No one has mentioned (I don't think) that this sauce makes the most incredible Lasagna also Marcella's recipe - using bechamel.
Marguerite
as one cook below, wrote I also have the book, it is a bible for Italie cooking, You must follow her directions exactly, I have been making the Ragu at least 25, I also have lived in Bologna 3. years, you do nothing but what she says, to the letter, exactly, take the time,,, I cook my Ragu 5 to 8 hours, the correct pasta served with this condimento is tagliatelle, I have never seen the fat separate, if it does? stir it well, There is no need to try to improve what is perfect,
M.Britton
Thank you for this note! Agree with your ideas/instructions completely. I also have the book. Yes it is a Bible. A divine classic.
lady
Divine in its simplicity. Outstanding. I'm sat here trying so hard not to sneak another cheeky taste from the dutch oven w/this meat sauce of the gods simmering for the final 30 mins. I've made it before, never commented. It's delicious. It's Nirvana. But I refuse to reduce both the milk and wine separately for 1 HOUR EACH. I just do a gentle simmer, med heat, til the liquid is mostly gone. Scrape spoon on bottom of pan to check liquid amounts. Salt & taste as you simmer final 3-5 hrs. Perfetto!
M. Britton
I do the same with the milk and wine simmers. I think adding the nutmeg and the salt Exactly when she instructs to do so, is also a crucial detail. I am planning also on starting to grind my own meat as I am finding the ground meats of late to be WAY too fine. I want some texture.
Stu Borken
When Marcella gives a recipe she uses the word "must" often. She is quite particular about aspects of her recipes so the cook she is teaching can make a product most like what she makes. You must sweat the onions in the oil and butter before adding the carrot and celery then you must simmer these vegetables until softened then add the ground meat and you must break up the meat with a wooden spoon and release its fat let the juices boil away and then add all the milk and simmer this until....
Pamela
This is worth the time it takes to make. Followed the recipe as is. My husband said it tasted like something you’d eat in Italy. He’s not one to compliment, so that’s something. I wonder if making it with red wine would be good? If you’re looking for a special weekend recipe, this is it!
Mark
For a better and more authentic Bolognese with beef, pork, and veal you can’t do better than Biba Caggiano’s recipe. She was Bolognese by birth.
Ken
Major disappointment and quite bland. I see in the comments many keep defending it as authentic to Bologna - but that doesn’t mean it can’t be criticized. Glad there are other reviews who feel the same way.
Ellen H
My all time favorite Marcella recipe is poached pears. YUM!
Juls
I’ve made this twice, followed instructions exactly. We found it to be rather bland-maybe it has nothing to do with the recipe? We just may not enjoy bolognese period.
Juls
The best way to know when the milk/wine has evaporated enough is to listen to the sound, liquid is almost level with the meat. Delicious.
Molly
It would be very helpful for the recipe to say about how much time it takes to evaporate the milk, then evaporate the wine. Makes you second guess yourself if you’re doing it right!
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