Bolognese Sauce, known in Italian as Ragù alla Bolognese is a rich and meaty sauce that is slowly simmered for several hours to intensify its flavor. Serve it over pasta or use it in lasagna or baked ziti for a hearty, flavorful meal. Freeze any leftovers for a quick and satisfying weeknight meal. As an added bonus, it’s quite easy to make.
Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need
I used the following ingredients for this delicious Bolognese Sauce: Mild Italian sausage, onion, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, light brown sugar, salt, freshly ground black pepper, petit diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, and water. If your sausage is in casings, remove the casings.
Making the Bolognese Sauce:
As a first step, I browned the Italian sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
When the sausage was nicely browned, I dumped it onto a place lined with paper towels. This allowed a lot of the grease to drain off.
Once the sausage was somewhat cooled, I broke it up into small pieces with my hand and transferred the pieces to another paper towel to further drain.
After I dumped the sausage out of the skillet, I wiped the pan’s interior with a paper towel. Then, I returned the pan to the burner set on medium heat. Next, I added the onions to the skillet and cooked them for about 5 minutes until they started to soften.
Once the onions started to soften, I returned the drained sausage to the skillet. Then, I stirred to combine everything.
Next, I added the basil, oregano, brown sugar, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
I stirred the sausage/onion mixture to incorporate all of the ingredients. Then I added the garlic.
I gave the mixture a good stir and let the garlic cook for about 30 seconds until it was fragrant. Next, I added the “wet” ingredients – petit diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, and water.
I stirred everything together, brought the mixture to a slow boil, covered the skillet, and lowered the heat to medium-low. I cooked the Bolognese Sauce for about 3 hours. During that time, I stirred it every now and then until it was thick and chunky.
I served the Bolognese Sauce over Orecchiette with a sprinkling of minced parsley and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. As an added treat, I served it with crusty French bread and glass or Merlot. The Bolognese Sauce was absolutely delicious. Yum!
This is a repost from August 27, 2016. Since that time, this Bolognese Sauce has become my go to pasta sauce to serve over pasta, to use in lasagna and to use in baked ziti.
If you’d like a similar recipe, check out my Sausage Ragu. It’s amazing.
Recipe
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Easy Make Ahead Lazy Lasagna
Ingredients
Meat Sauce
- 1 pound (16 ounces) mild Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 medium onion chopped, (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (1 teaspoon)
- 14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 8 ounce can tomato sauce
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- ½ cup water
Lasagna
- Meat sauce from above or your favorite meat sauce made from one pound of meat
- 18 ounce package cheese ravioli (See Tips 1 and 2)
- 2 cups (8-ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- ½ cup (2-ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Meat Sauce
- Brown Italian sausage in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Allow to cool; rub meat between fingers to break into small pieces.
- Wipe the skillet with a paper towel to remove any remaining grease. Add onions; sauté over medium heat for about five minutes.
- Return the sausage to skillet; stir to combine. Add the basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and garlic. Stir well to combine; cook for 30 seconds or until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add petite diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, red wine, and water; stir well to combine. Bring to a slow boil.
- Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for three hours, adding more liquid if necessary. (See Tip 3)
- Correct the seasonings if necessary. Yield: 8 servings. (See Tip 4)
Lazy Lasagna
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 8 ½ x 10-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Spread one cup of meat sauce over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the ravioli, half of the remaining meat sauce, half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layering with the remaining ingredients.
- Cover dish with aluminum foil. Bake in preheated 400°F oven for 20 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake an additional 20 minutes.
- Yield: 8 servings. (See Tip 5)
Video
Tips/Notes
- I used store-bought ravioli purchased in the refrigerated section of my grocery store, stuffed with mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese. You could also use frozen ravioli. If using frozen ravioli, increase the covered cooking time by 5 minutes.
- Sometimes, I use a 8 ½ x 10-inch baking dish that’s 2 ½ inches deep, and sometimes I use a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Both sizes work fine. The main difference between the two sizes is the number of ravioli that are needed for a single layer. With the 8 ½ inch dish, I needed 20 ravioli for the single layer. When I use the 9-inch dish, I need 24 to 28 ravioli for the single layer.
- If you’re making your own meat sauce, you can cook it on the stovetop, transfer the mixture to a crock pot, cook on the high setting for 5 hours, or cook covered in 300°F oven for 3 hours.
- This amazing meat sauce makes a delicious base for baked ziti and is awesome served over pasta.
- Leftovers, if any, are delicious. Also, leftovers can be frozen for later use.
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