Mary Berry, the queen of British cooking, has shared her secret to making a rich and tender bolognese.
This comforting dish is perfect for a weekday meal and Mary’s version promises to be even more delicious thanks to a special cooking technique.
In a BBC video, Mary revealed her “delicious” recipe for this British favourite. She said: “Nothing beats a hearty supper when you’ve worked up an appetite, and this recipe is my delicious version of one of our nation’s go-to dishes.
“We Brits cook bolognese more than any other meat recipe, so here is how it goes.”
This recipe serves six people and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. However, it needs two hours to slowly cook, allowing the meat to become tender.
Instructions
Start by preheating your oven to 160C gas or 140C fan, then heat the oil in a large pot on the stove.
Add the chopped carrots, celery and onions and leave to fry on high heat for around five minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.
Fry both the pork and beef mince in the same pot until browned over high heat. Mary explained: “Having the two meats means you get a wonderful deep flavour, and it’s what the Italians do.”
The meat may stick together but it’s easy to solve by using two wooden spatulas to mix the bolognese ingredients together.
After separating the meat, add the crushed garlic and let it fry for around 30 seconds before tipping in the tomato paste and stirring it into the bolognese sauce.
Once fully mixed, add the beef stock, chopped tomatoes and passata sauce, continue to give the bolognese sauce a good stir and let it bubble.
Now is the time to add the wine, herbs, salt and pepper. Mary recommended using white or red, though she prefers white.
While most people would remove the pan from the heat now, Mary’s ultimate cooking tip is to slowly cook bolognese in the oven.
She said: “Most people cook bolognese on the hob, but I have a good tip that will make the most tender, deeply flavoured bolognese that you have ever tasted… It really does bring out the flavour of all the ingredients.”
Leave the sauce in the oven for one hour before adding double cream to the “secret” ingredient.
Mary said: “After an hour in the oven, my secret is to make it even richer by adding in double cream. Don’t worry, it doesn’t curdle or anything like that, it just enriches it. What I want to end up with is a fairly thick mixture.”
After adding the final touch, return the bolognese sauce to the oven for another hour. Ensure the lid is not on the bolognese cooking pot and the meat should become very fork-tender when done.
Once the bolognese sauce is nearly done cooking, fill a pot with salted water and bring it to a boil to cook the pasta. Drain once cooked, then set aside.
Mary said: “The Italian way isn’t to serve robust meat sauce with a skinny pasta like spaghetti. For the perfect pairing, choose a thicker shape like pappardelle [pasta].”
Dish the pasta and bolognese onto a plate and serve with Parmesan cheese and basil leaves.
