Marcella Hazan’s Classic Bolognese Sauce

Some recipes don’t need tweaking—they just need time and trust. This classic Bolognese from Marcella Hazan, as featured in the New York Times, is one of those dishes. It’s slow, unfussy, and quietly magical. You let it simmer for hours, you stir occasionally, you get on with your life—and somehow it turns into something deeply comforting and grounding. This is the kind of cooking I love most: simple ingredients, patience, and the reminder that good things happen when you don’t rush.

Marcella Hazan’s Classic Bolognese Sauce

(New York Times recipe)

A slow-simmered, deeply comforting meat sauce from Marcella Hazan that rewards patience with incredible flavor. Simple ingredients, classic technique, and absolutely worth the time.

Yield

About 2 heaping cups
Serves 6
Enough for 1½ pounds of pasta

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil ( I use olive oil)

• 3 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon for tossing the pasta

• ½ cup chopped onion

• ⅔ cup chopped celery

• ⅔ cup chopped carrot

• ¾ pound ground beef chuck
  (or use 1 part pork to 2 parts beef)

• Salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cup whole milk

• Whole nutmeg

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 1½ cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up with their juice

• 1¼ to 1½ pounds pasta

• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

  ps. I add a few cloves of garlic with the onion. It felt wrong not to add it ;)

Preparation

Step 1

Place the oil, butter, and chopped onion in a heavy pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the onion becomes translucent. Add the celery and carrot and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring to coat the vegetables evenly.

Step 2

Add the ground meat, a generous pinch of salt, and a few grindings of black pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until it loses its raw red color.

Step 3

Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has completely evaporated. Add a tiny grating of nutmeg (about ⅛ teaspoon) and stir.

Step 4

Pour in the wine and let it simmer until fully evaporated. Add the tomatoes and their juices, stirring thoroughly to coat everything evenly. Once the tomatoes begin to bubble, lower the heat so the sauce cooks at the gentlest simmer, with only occasional bubbles breaking the surface.

Cook uncovered for 3 hours or longer, stirring from time to time. If the sauce begins to dry out or stick, add ½ cup of water as needed. By the end, no water should remain and the fat should separate from the sauce. Stir to reincorporate the fat, then taste and adjust seasoning.

Step 5

Toss the sauce with cooked, drained pasta, adding the remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.