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Ryan’s Ragu Bolognese

For when spaghetti and meatballs just wont do, mix things up with this pasta Bolognese. This sauce can even be made ahead of time and frozen in portions, so you can have a fresh and ready made pasta sauce whenever you need it. While traditional Bolognese sauce uses tomato puree (passata) and fattier varieties of ground meats, this recipe substitutes the passata for tomato paste (or even red pepper paste, see the note below) and extra lean ground beef to keep things macro friendly.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Course Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 800 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Food Processor to make chopping the veggies easier
  • 2 Large pots with lids 1 pot for the sauce, the other to boil the pasta
  • 1 Large bowl for reserving the cooked ground beef

Ingredients
  

  • 1.3 kg Extra Lean Ground Beef
  • 3 ribs Celery 200g
  • 2 medium Carrots 200g
  • 1 medium Yellow Onion 200g
  • 4 cloves Garlic peeled
  • 156 ml Tomato Paste can be substituted with bell pepper paste
  • 1 cup Chardonnay Wine or white wine of choice
  • 2 cups Chicken Stock
  • 1 cup 2% Milk
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Dried Thyme
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • ½ tsp Nutmeg
  • ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper for a small kick of spice
  • 1 tsp Paprika
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
 

For the Bolognese Sauce

  • Roughly chop the celery, carrots, onion and garlic. Add the diced vegetables to a food processor, in batches if needed to prevent overcrowding and pulse until pebbly in texture. Set aside to be used later.
  • Place a large pot over medium heat and the ½ of the olive oil (½ tbsp). Once the oil is heated and lightly smoking, add the ground beef to the pot, and season with salt and pepper. Increase the heat to high to sear the ground beef. Break up the ground beef into a pebbly texture using a wooden spoon or potato masher. Cook until it has lightly browned and a majority of the water has evaporated and the meat is sizzling. Then reduce the heat to medium.
  • Remove the cooked ground beef to a bowl, then add the vegetables and garlic to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, stirring occasionally to cook the vegetables until softened.
  • Add the cooked ground beef and tomato paste (or red bell pepper paste, if substituting) to the pot and stir coat everything. Cook until the paste starts to caramelize and brown the bottom of the pot.
  • Add the wine and chicken stock to the pot, then stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom of the pot to release the fond. Add the milk, paprika, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and dried thyme to the pot. Stir once more to incorporate the spices.
  • Add the bay leaves to the pot. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pot with a lid and allow the sauce to simmer for 2 ½ hours.
  • After the sauce has simmered and slightly reduced, remove the bay leaves, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

For Serving Fresh

  • Set the sauce off to the side. Fill a large pot with water, lightly salt it and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook 6 servings of pasta, as per package instructions.
  • Reserve 1 cup of pasta water after the pasta has cooked. Add the cooked pasta to the pan and thin out the sauce with reserved pasta water.
  • Set the pot of pasta Bolognese over medium heat, gently mix the pasta to coat it all over in sauce and let cook for 5-7 minutes.
  • Serve with grated parmigiano reggiano over top. Leftover taste just as good the next day when stored in the the fridge.

For Meal Prepping

  • For freezer meal prep, allow the sauce to cool to room temperature and portion into freezer safe Ziploc bags, remove excess air and seal. Stays good for up to 3 months in the freezer.
  • When ready to use, remove the frozen portion of sauce from the bag and place into a cold pan. Cover the pan with a lid or aluminum foil and heat over medium-low heat to thaw out the sauce (10 - 12 minutes). Once thawed, add cooked pasta to the pan and thin out the sauce with pasta water as needed.

Notes

Macros for per serving, for 6 servings of this recipe, with 6 servings (510g) of pasta. 
For substituting tomato paste with red bell pepper paste, checkout this recipe on how to make it! - https://www.themediterraneandish.com/red-pepper-paste/
Using 3 red bell peppers gave me the perfect amount of red pepper paste to use in this recipe. Exact method is posted below
  • 3 large Red Bell Peppers
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  1. Soften the bell peppers. Place the red bell peppers and water in a medium pot. Set over medium-high heat and cook, stirring often, for 25 minutes.
  2. Process the paste. Place the cooked peppers in a food processor and using a stick blender, blend until the mixture is almost a smooth purée.
  3. Reduce the paste. Return the puréed peppers to the pot, season with the salt and cook over a low heat for a further 35-45 minutes, stirring continuously so the purée doesn’t burn, until the juices have evaporated. The purée will shrink by half and turn into a soft paste. Remove from the heat.
  4. Store. Pour the paste into a clean container. Top with the extra virgin olive oil. Allow to cool, then store your prepared red pepper paste in your refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Keyword carrots, Celery, freezer, Garlic, ground beef, Italian, meal prep, Onion, Pasta, tomatoes