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Plated spaghetti ragu alla bolognese in a pasta plate

Ragù alla Bolognese - Culinary Seasons Style (GF)

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Course: Condiment, Entree, Lunch, Main, Pasta, Sauce
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: Bolognese, Freeze, GF, Gluten Free, Make Ahead, Meal Prep, Meat Sauce, Ragu, sauce, spaghetti, Spaghetti Sauce
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Author: Chef Tony Zentgraf
The sauce is Gluten Free, use the appropriate Gluten Free Pasta to keep the dish Gluten Free if you so choose.
See notes at bottom for additional cooking information.
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Recipe Multiplier

  • ⅓ cup Olive Oil
  • 1 ea Large Onion - ¼" diced
  • 12 ea Cloves Garlic minced
  • 2 ea Large Carrots - ¼" diced
  • 1 ea 1 stalk Celery - ¼" diced
  • 1 lb Ground Beef
  • 1 lb Ground Pork
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
  • 2 cups Red Wine
  • 3 cups Chicken Broth low sodium
  • 2 cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (28 oz)
  • 1 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
  • 2 tbsp Crushed Dry Oregano
  • 2 tbsp Crushed Dry Basil
  • 1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
  • 1 tbsp Granulated Onion
  • 2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 cup Half & Half
  • ⅔ cup Grated Parmesan

Instructions

  • Prep the Onions, Carrots, Celery, and Garlic
  • In a heavy bottom pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.
  • Add onions, cook until they become translucent.
  • Add Garlic, saute until it becomes fragrant.
    sauteing onions for ragu alla bolognese
  • Add Carrots and Celery, saute for 2 minutes until the celery becomes translucent.
    sauteed veggies for ragu alla bolognese
  • Remove the vegetables from the pot.
  • Sear the ground beef and pork in the pot. Remove the fat from the pot.
    Searing ground beef for ragu all bolognese
  • Return the vegetables to the pot with the meat.
  • Add Tomato Paste, stir to coat the vegetables. Toast the tomato paste until it begins to change color and sticks to the bottom.
    Sauteing onions, celery and carrots into seared ground beef for ragu alla bolognese
  • Turn the heat to high and allow the pot to get hot. Deglaze the pot with the red wine. Scraping the bottom to remove the fond (bits in the bottom of the pot) Reduce the wine by half.
    Reducine red wine to make bolognese sauce
  • Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
    Ragu alla Bolognese beginning to come together, reducing red wine
  • Add diced tomatoes. Stir to combine all ingredients.
    Adding diced fire roasted tomatoes to make ragu alla bolognese sauce
  • Add dry basil, oregano, chili flakes, granulated garlic, granulated onion and salt.
    Stirring in seasoning into ragu alla bolognese simmering
  • Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer over medium low heat.
    Ragu alla Bolognese sauce simmering away in dutch oven
  • Simmer the sauce for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
  • Cooking the sauce should break down the tomatoes.
  • Once the bolognese sauce reduced down and the tomatoes are mostly broken down, add parmesan and half & half and stir to combine.
    Simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavors to combine. You can adjust the parmesan if you would like.
    I like to give it a little more, it will help thicken the sauce as well as increasing the flavor.
  • Adjust the seasoning, salt, granulated onion and garlic, more oregano and basil if you would like.
    close up of parmesan topped ragu alla bolognese pasta

Notes

Recipe is great as leftovers, as with other sauces the flavors have a chance to come together overnight.
Canned Tomatoes -
  • If after 1 1/2 hours of cooking, the tomatoes are not breaking down use a potato masher and smash the tomatoes to help them break apart in the remaining cooking process.
  • Many canned tomatoes contain sodium chloride which assists with the tomatoes to keep their shape in the can.
  • You can use whole tomatoes and hand crush them instead of using diced.
  • Many of the whole tomatoes in cans also contain sodium chloride but hand crushing the tomatoes helps them breakdown.