Rigatoni bolognese is a simple, yet elegant dish made with homemade bolognese sauce, rigatoni, fresh herbs, and a dollop of ricotta or mascarpone cheese (don’t skip me, presentation is everything, my friend). It’s a fantastic authentic Italian recipe that’s perfect for those cold winter nights.

Date-night bolognese anyone? Yeah, it’s that good.

What is Bolognese?

We make bolognese a lot these days, it’s a fairly simple Italian meat sauce made with ground beef, onions, carrots, celery, fresh herbs, garlic, diced tomatoes, wine, and whole milk. It’s most famous for its thick and meaty texture that nicely sticks to pasta of your choice.

This recipe, of course, use rigatoni but you can pair with just about anything. I personally love gnocchi and pappardelle.

How to Make Bolognese

I typically make bolognese in a dutch oven. It’s best for cooking beef and simmering large quantities of sauce. The recipe is essentially broken down into three simple parts.

1. Tenderizing all of the finely chopped veggies in oil and butter (carrots, onions, celery).
2. Fully cooking the beef (and optional ground sausage) in the same pan and breaking into very small chunks, almost granular. Ground sausage adds tremendous flavor (highly recommend).
3. Adding tomatoes and herbs, spices and let simmer until the sauce is reduced and thick.

It really is one of the easiest homemade sauces to make perfectly every time.

Finley Chopped Veggies

It’s so important to very finely chop the celery, carrots, and onions. It improved the flavor and overall texture. My favorite hack is using shredded carrots and chopping them further. It’s an easy way to quickly finely chop carrots. They can be tedious otherwise.

Can I Make the Sauce Ahead?

You can make the sauce ahead of time if you’d like. Sometimes I like to make the sauce up in the morning and store in the fridge so it only takes 15 minutes to prepare just before dinner. If you’re having people over, this is the way to go. If you end up doing this, be sure to warm up the sauce on the stove before adding any pasta.

Can I Freeze Bolognese Sauce?

Yes, store sauce alone in a sealed container and freeze for up to 6 months. Let thaw in the fridge and reheat in a saucepan when preparing. Freeze sauce alone and do not freeze the final dish with pasta in it. It won’t be good.

Also, be sure to check out a few other of my favorite Italian inspired recipes before you go.

You’ll Also Love

• Baked rigatoni
• Cheesy gnocchi bolognese
• Creamy chicken carbonara
• Pesto gnocchi with shrimp
• Pasta alla norma
• Baked ziti with ricotta and mozzarella

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