Alaine's Hearty Red Wine Bolognese

Everyone has that one dish they make over and over again. I have a few dishes that I love to make and gets better each time. One of my favorites to make is hearty bolognese sauce. I usually make a weeks' worth of the meat-y sauce so its great for a Sunday meal-prep cook day. In fact, when I was interning in Brussels, I would often spend about half the day cooking after the gym. (Because Brussels is closed on Sundays)

If you like your bolognese to have a lot of meat with a bit of spicy kick to it then you should try this!

I tend to compare a bunch of recipes to make my bolognese sauce when I started cooking this and I recommend that you do the same to tweak it to your own tastebuds. 

Ingredients:

1 white onion

1/2 garlic clove

1 medium carrot

50g chopped Pancetta or bacon

150g minced beef

2 cans of your favorite tomato paste or tomato-based pasta sauce. I like getting arrabiatta

dried red chilli flake

cherry tomatoes

tabasco sauce

tomato ketchup

sambal oelek

1/2 bottle of table red wine (you can also use a previously opened bottle of Red) - don't go to crazy and get your favorite bottle, when cooking with wine, you don't need the best of the best!

olive oil

low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock

Basil

Mozzarella 

A hearty sauce can really warm your spirits. This iron-rich meaty sauce is something I crave when my body feels depleted of iron. (Ladies, this is a great sauce to have during your post menstruation!) 

Paired with a good Syrah or Shiraz is my favorite homecooked meal. 

Preparations:

1. In a hot pan, cook the pancetta

2. Add some olive oil then pour in the garlic and onions

3. Add minced meat. Until half browned, add a dash of red wine

4. Simmer and reduce. Add more dashes of red wine. Repeat this until 1/2 bottle. 

5. Add chopped carrots and halved or quartered cherry tomatoes with juices 

6. Add low sodium broth and simmer

7. Add tomato paste or tomato based pasta sauce 

8. Add chilli flakes, Tabasco, sambal, and tomato ketchup at your discretion. 

9. Stir everything thoroughly

10. Simmer on low heat and add chopped basil and little pieces of mozzarella

12. Cool and store in glass jars for 24 hours to let everything marinate.