Bolognese with Beef, Pork and Mushrooms
Two kinds of mince instead of one — half beef, half pork — and dried mushrooms that give the sauce a depth tomato alone does not reach. The infallible sauce for any pasta.
Do not throw away the mushroom soaking water. Most of their aroma is in it. It goes into the pot, but strained through a fine sieve: grit settles at the bottom.
The vegetables are softened with a pinch of salt. Salt draws water out of them, so they sweat instead of frying — which for a sauce is exactly what you want.
Ingredients
- 400 g minced meat (200 g beef and 200 g pork)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, in small dice
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, germ removed and chopped
- 500 ml puréed tomatoes
- 10 g dried mushrooms, soaked and chopped (keep the soaking water)
- 125 ml red wine
- 250 ml beef stock (1 cup)
- 3 tbsp grated cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt, pepper and chopped fresh basil, to taste
Method
- 1
In a pot with hot olive oil, soften the onion, the carrot, the pepper and the garlic with a pinch of salt so they sweat.
- 2
Add the minced meat and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly until it takes colour and breaks up properly.
- 3
Add the soaked, chopped dried mushrooms. Pour in the red wine and cook for 2 minutes to let the alcohol evaporate.
- 4
Turn the heat to its lowest and add the beef stock along with the puréed tomatoes and the mushroom soaking water, strained through a fine sieve (grit settles at the bottom). Season to taste.
- 5
Cook the sauce over gentle heat for about 20 minutes so the flavours concentrate and the consistency thickens.
- 6
At the end of cooking, take it off the heat and stir in the chopped fresh basil and the grated cheese to emulsify and give it shine.