I cannot remember the last time David and I ate spaghetti for supper. I talking about no fancy stuff, no homemade pasta, just noodles topped with a bolognese sauce. We were long overdue!
Sunday night after getting back home from a weekend back home visiting my mama and family, I put on a pot of sauce to simmer while watching the snow fall (AGAIN). It made the whole house smell warm and cozy and the crack and pop of the wood burning fireplace made me a little glad it was snowing outside.
Come to think of it; I don’t think I have ever shared my bolognese sauce with you, have I?
This thick chunky bolognese is loaded with ground beef, tomatoes and onions. It only takes 1 hour, which means you don’t have to wait for the weekend to indulge.
I add this sauce to spaghetti and topped it with Parmesan and red pepper flakes. If I would have had some fresh basil, I would have julienned it and piled it on top too. That warm bowl of spaghetti took the edge off a winter night, but I am still ready for spring!
The Blonde Italian Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 8 ounces Portobello mushrooms sliced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground beef (chuck)
- 1 pound Italian Sausage ground, casing removed
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 28 ounces canned diced tomatoes
- 15 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, oregano, and basil. Allow garlic and herbs to permeate the oil, but do not allow them to burn.
- Stir in the onions and mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt; sauté, until onions are translucent and mushrooms are tender; about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground beef. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, about 5 to minutes. DRAIN excess oil if necessary.
- Next, add tomato paste and brown paste. Do not skip this step! Once the paste has browned, add tomatoes and juice. Stir making sure to scrape up all the wonderful browned bits off the bottom of the pan/pot.
- Bring the sauce up to a simmer and add in bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and allow to simmer no less than 45 minutes (the longer you simmer, the better it will be).
- Before serving, remove bay leaves!!
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