There is a big difference between a marinara and a bolognese. First, a bolognese is more of a meat sauce and it is traditionally made with wine and cream while a marinara is basically a red sauce. The other difference between a bolognese and a marinara is that you could basically throw together a good marinara in a half hour, while the same is not really true for a bolognese. Bolognese needs time to cook and reduce and let the meat soak up all of the liquid and flavor to the point where it almost breaks down- it’s that smooth. With bolognese, the more time it cooks, the more flavorful it becomes. So when I came up with this recipe, I knew that I wanted to call it Weekend Bow Tie Bolognese. Because weekends are perfect for bolognese.

I know that not many of us are going to have the time to throw together a bolognese that needs an hour and a half to cook during the week. If you do get the chance, then by all means, go for it! It’s incredibly simple, just takes time. Once you combine all of the bolognese ingredients into the Dutch Oven, it basically does all of the work itself. You only need to stir occasionally. Unless you’re like me and feel the need to walk over and check the timer every ten minutes to see if it’s done yet because it smells so good. Seriously, it makes the house smell incredible while it’s cooking. Torture! But, good torture. So let’s get started.

Let me show you how I made this Weekend Bow Tie Bolognese 👇🏻

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Start by adding 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet (with high sides) or Dutch Oven. Add 4 oz diced pancetta (I bought the pre-diced kind), 1 cup finely diced celery, 1 finely diced onion and 1 cup finely diced carrots. Cook until the veggies are soft, about 4-5 minutes. 

Add 3 minced garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Add 2 tbsp tomato paste and stir, cooking it for about 2-3 minutes. 

Now it’s time to add the beef. For this, I used 1 1/2 Lbs 80-20. I wanted a little bit of a fattier meat so it would be more tender and almost melt into the sauce. If you use 80-20, just be sure to drain off the fat after the beef is cooked. 

Break it up as it cooks. I’m sure that you know that. I just feel the need to say it. 

👆🏻 It’s already starting to look divine. Drain your beef now, if you need to.

Now go ahead and add your dry red wine. Add 1 cup of something that you like to drink. I don’t really like red wine, but that’s what everyone says. Haha! But, the actual reason is because you will get the flavor of the wine coming through, not the alcohol though (that will get cooked off).  If you don’t have wine or don’t like to cook with it, you can leave it out. Leaving it out might slightly change the taste, but it will still end up incredibly delicious.

***If you would like to leave out the wine, please skip this part and replace the wine with the same amount of broth***

As you can see here 👆🏻, I probably should have drained off more of my beef fat. I mean, it’s no big deal. It will add flavor, it’s just not esthetically pleasing for pictures. Cook the wine at a good simmer for 2-3 until the alcohol is cooked off and the wine starts  to become absorbed.

So now go ahead and add 2 cups low-sodium beef broth, 28 oz crushed tomatoes, 1 cup half and half, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1 bay leaf, 2 tsp EACH salt and pepper, and 1 tsp EACH dried oregano, dried thyme and crushed red pepper flakes. If you have a parmesan cheese rind, go ahead and throw it in now as well, but that’s optional.

Kind of looks like an abstract painting. 

Stir everything really well and bring it to a boil. Then lower the heat to low and let it simmer. Let it simmer, let it simmer, let it simmer. Stir occasionally, maybe every 20 minutes or so. With this kind of sauce, the longer that it cooks, the more flavor that it is going to develop. The meat and all of the flavor just kind of melt and meld together. It will be total torture to smell as it is cooking. Side effects: may cause anyone in the house to become to HANGRY. 

This is what it will look like after an hour and a half at a low simmer. A rich, meaty sauce with an insane amount of flavor.

Pasta Notes:

About fifteen minutes before your bolognese is ready to be done, start your pasta. Now, let’s talk about your choice of pasta. I chose 1 Lb farfalle (bow tie pasta) because I wanted something fun that my kids were going to eat, something different. But, just so you know- this is not what is traditionally chosen for bolognese. Usually bolognese is served with papardelle or a fettuccine type pasta because you don’t want the texture of the pasta to interfere with the bolognese. I found the bite of the farfalle to be just fine and also found that it held the sauce really well. 

Pull the cooked pasta out of its water and place it directly into the bolognese. Be sure to remove your parmesan rind (if added) and track down that bay leaf and pull it out.

Give it a good stir to coat all of the pasta. I also ladled a big spoonful of the pasta water into the bolognese to help adhere the sauce to the pasta. 

Pasta Tips: Often, people put waaaaay too much water in the pot to cook pasta. You want just a little bit more water than what would cover the pasta. The reason is that when pasta cooks, it releases starches into the water. When you’re done cooking the pasta, I always suggest removing the pasta from its water and placing it into your sauce.  NOT draining the pasta into a colander and thereby dumping all of the water down the sink drain. That pasta water is fantastic to use to get your sauce to stick to your pasta, only a ladle or two at most. 

I mean, how incredible does that look?! So worth the time to cook it. 

Serve it with some fresh shredded Parmesan on top along with some fresh chopped parsley. 

Enjoy!

These are the recommended products that I used to make this delicious recipe! These are not only products that I use, but products that I love.

Have you tried this recipe? Thinking about it? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave me your thoughts below in the comment section.