Long Cooked Bolognese Sauce

This delicious sauce freezes well, so we make a huge amount and store it in our freezer for easy weeknight meals.

GF EF

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
0.25 cup each finely minced onion, celery, carrot
salt
1 lb meatloaf mix or 0.33 lb each ground beef chuck, ground veal and ground pork
1.5 c whole milk
1.5 c semi-dry white wine
3 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained, with 1.5 c juices reserved

Roughly chop the onion, celery and carrot. Then, mince fine in a food processor.
In a large Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and 1 tsp salt and cook. Stir occasionally until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.
Stir in the ground meats, stirring to break up chunks, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
Add the milk and stir. Bring to a simmer and cook until the milk has evaporated and only clear fat remains, about 25 minutes. The meat will start to sizzle again.
Stir in the wine, bring to a simmer and cook until the wine has evaporated, about 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, pulse the tomatoes in a food processor until slightly chunky, about 8 1-second pulses.
After the wine has done simmering, add the tomatoes and the reserved juice. Bring to a bare simmer (use a heat diffuser) and cook gently until the liquid has evaporated, 3 to 3.5 hours.
To store: Let the sauce cool at room temperature for 45 minutes. Transfer to airtight containers and then freeze when cooled.

To make larger batches:

Double Batch:

Double Batch directions:

Triple Batch:

Triple Batch directions:

Notes:

The original recipe calls for a dry white wine, but I’ve found I prefer the flavor of a sweeter wine, like a Gewurztraminer or even a Riesling.