Italian Bolognese Recipes

Italian Bolognese is one of the best Italian comfort cuisines with a rich, savoury flavour. The sauce is from the historic city of Bologna. Since it is primarily a meat-based sauce with a bit of tomato flavour, you need to pick your ingredients carefully.

Some great ingredients for simple Bolognese recipes include:

Meat and pork: Bolognese recipes require top-quality ground meat to elevate the quality of the sauce. You can combine ground beef and pork for a meaty texture and better flavour. Alternatively, use pancetta instead of pork. If you don’t eat pork, you can substitute it with turkey or use ground beef only.

Vegetables and tomatoes: Aside from the meat, Italian Bolognese recipes also require vegetables and tomatoes. Use canned or fresh tomatoes, and throw in various vegetables to improve the flavour profile. Classic vegetables, like carrots, onions and celery, are all you need, while mushrooms will make the Bolognese extra creamy.

Wine: If you want to add depth and richness to the sauce, you need red wine. However, if you don’t like cooking with wine, you can mix vegetable or beef broth to add richness to the sauce.

Cheese: Your Italian Bolognese sauce needs some cheese for a salty and nutty flavour. You can use grated Parmesan cheese. If you're preparing a vegan Bolognese, use a vegan variety of parmesan or skip the cheese entirely.

Vegetarian Bolognese recipes skip the meat altogether, but the sauce is rich and flavourful. When making vegetarian Bolognese, you can use a combination of vegetables like zucchini, mushrooms and eggplants to make it creamy.

You can also add plant-based proteins, such as tofu or lentils. The versatility of the Bolognese sauce makes it useful in various dishes. Aside from serving it with spaghetti, other creative ways to enjoy Bolognese sauce include:

Lasagna: Use your Bolognese sauce to prepare lasagna. Layer the sauce with sheets of lasagna noodles, and add mozzarella, ricotta and parmesan cheese for a classic lasagna dish.