Bolognese Sauce / Salsa Bolognese / Sauce Bolognaise

A real Bolognese needs one thing above all: a lot of time. To keep this effort within limits, I make a "real" portion every six months (the total weight is 4.5 to 5 kilos) and freeze the sauce in portions. That works fine, you should only let it thaw slowly as needed for the better taste and you can extend the mixture well with tomato puree, if you like. (Incidentally, I was allowed to copy this recipe from an elderly Italian woman in Emilia-Romagna, who fed truck drivers passing by in the "back room" behind her grocery store (Alimentari) on a trunk road around noon - and they always know where there is something good!)

Chop / chop the celery, roughly the size of a matchstick, the carrots too (I let my food processor do this), dice the onions.

Sear the minced meat until it is nice and crumbly, deglaze with a dash of red wine and keep warm. At the same time, steam the celery and carrot mixture in a large roasting pan in a little olive oil. Stir again and again, as the boiling reduces the amount to about half.

Make a liter of hot meat stock, mix well with the tomato paste. It makes a slightly creamy, grainy sauce.

In addition, simmer the diced onions in a pan in olive oil (and a dash of red wine - this gives "color") until they are glassy and fry them gently, turning them over and over again. Add the minced meat and stir in some of the tomato sauce, but just enough so that it doesn't burn.

When the carrot and celery mixture has boiled down well - the carrots and celery should be very soft and significantly reduced - add the halved and pitted black olives and fold in. The whole thing continues to simmer. You can then gradually fold in the minced meat and onion mixture and stir in the remaining tomato stock.

Prepare the two large cans of peeled tomatoes: Drain, but collect the "tomato water" from the can and add to the sauce later, remove the flowers and any peel remains from the tomatoes and cut into small pieces. Put everything together - with the captured juice from the can in the roaster.

Now you can season with black or colored pepper and, according to taste, with the herbs. Mix everything well again.

Now the whole thing should simmer gently for two to three hours over medium to low heat. Stir every now and then so that nothing sticks to the bottom. The longer the entire Bolognese cooks, the better. In between, the consistency can be liquefied with broth, red wine or water as desired and if necessary.

Finally, if you think the sauce was successful, turn off the hotplate (s) and fold the chopped parsley into the sauce. Let the whole thing rest, if necessary, of course, put on a portion of pasta and try it! The best thing about it: a good Frascati.

After cooling - usually lasts until the next day, you can, as described, fill the "supply" in portions into freezer bags and freeze it. This Bolognese, which does not lose any taste due to the freezing, but has a firmer consistency, can be stretched back to "sauce level" after thawing by adding tomatoes or another tomato paste-broth mixture, if the taste is necessary. A tip: The thawed pure sauce also tastes great as a small side dish, e.g. directly on bread! Have fun and enjoy your meal!