We wanted to create a super simple spaghetti bolognese recipe for several important reasons. Mainly, because a proper saucy, rich, bolognese pasta is one of the tastiest dishes known to mankind. That’s not even in dispute.
The second reason for creating such a a simple take on the Italian classic is that most versions of a bolognese sauce have as much as 20 ingredients or more! It can be daunting to even know where to start with a bolognese that’s homemade. Now, we know that purists will say that by leaving things like celery, bay leaves and Parmesan rind out from the ingredients list, this dish is culinary sacrilege. The simple fact though, is most people don’t have time to shop for 20 ingredients. So our recipe is one that is big on flavour whilst keeping the shopping list reasonable in size.
Unlike our series of tasty recipes that feature just 7 simple ingredients this one has 10, but it’s worth the extra effort. As with all our recipes, this is super tasty and can be made by all levels of cooks!
Super Simple Bolognese Recipe – Ingredients
- Ground (minced) beef
- Spaghetti
- Chopped tinned tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Pancetta (streaky bacon would also work)
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Thyme
Start by doing all the prep for the recipe. Chop the pancetta. Peel and dice the garlic, carrots and onions. Pick the thyme leaves away from the stalks and then dice up the mushrooms as small as you can.
Heat up a medium sized pan over a medium heat and add some olive oil. When it heats up add all the ingredients and sweat them off. You want to do this slowly over the course of 6-8 minutes to extract all those wonderful flavours.
When the vegetables have softened, add in the ground beef. You can turn the temperature up at this stage as you want the meat to brown off. Use the spatula to prod the meat so that there are no large lumps within it.
After the meat has browned off (it should take 3-4 minutes) add the tin of chopped tomatoes. You can also add a cupful of water at this stage. Some recipes will call for beef stock and you can add that as well, but as we said the fewer ingredients the better.
Turn the heat right down to let it simmer.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add in the spaghetti. You can use any pasta you want but spaghetti really is ideal for the consistency of this sauce.
After about 15 minutes of simmering, the sauce will naturally start to thicken up. You should season it with salt and pepper to taste.
Grate a generous amount of parmesan cheese to sprinkle over your bolognese before serving.
When the pasta is boiled, strain it and it add it into the pan with the sauce. Mix well so that all of the pasta is properly coated.
To serve, pile high onto a plate and top with parmesan!
An easy, no-fuss bolognese sauce that’s full of rich flavour.
If you likes this recipe check out our Big 7 Food Instagram account for more of the same.
