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Large white pasta bowl filled with penne pasta topped with bolognese sauce
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5 from 3 votes

My Favorite Bolognese Sauce

This Bolognese Sauce combines ground beef and pork for a hearty sauce that’s perfect on a cold winter day!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 oz thinly sliced pancetta chopped
  • ½ cup finely diced carrot about 1 large carrot
  • ½ cup finely diced celery
  • 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 pound ground sirloin
  • ½ pound ground pork
  • 1 dried bay leaf
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ cup Chardonnay
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

For serving: - all measurements in this section are per the number of people you are serving

  • ½ cup Barilla Protein Plus Penne
  • 1 tablespoon Italian Parsley leaves chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated parmesan or other hard cheese

Instructions

For the sauce:

  • Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook for 4 minutes.
  • Add carrots and celery; cook for one minute.
  • Add onion and sauté for an additional minute. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more.
  • Add pork and ground beef, cook until crumbly. Add spices; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
  • Add Worcestershire, wine, chicken broth and stir. Add tomatoes and stir until all ingredients are mixed.
  • Bring sauce to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour.
  • Remove the bay leaf from the sauce.

To serve

  • While the sauce is cooking, prepare the penne according to the package directions. When you drain the pasta, reserve about ½ cup of the pasta water.
  • When you are ready to serve, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add ½ cup of sauce, about ¾ cup of pasta and 2 tablespoon of pasta water. Let heat for a few minutes, mixing occasionally.
  • Transfer to a warm bowl or plate; top with cheese and Italian parsley and serve immediately.
  • Repeat process for each person being served.

Notes

If you want to make the sauce ahead of time, stop after the sauce portion and store sauce. When ready to serve, heat the amount of sauce you need in a sauce pan (or the microwave) until warm, and the proceed with making the pasta and serving.