Bolognese Sauce

You can either use two anchovy filets (from tins of anchovies packed in oil) or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste. Don’t worry, the filets chunks will dissolve into the sauce as it cooks, and they won’t make the sauce taste “fishy!” Rather, they work wonders to help to bring out the delicious umami flavor of the meat. If you don’t have anchovy filets or paste on hand, you can sub in 2 teaspoons of fish sauce. Or you can just leave this ingredient out altogether, if you prefer.

I love the extra flavor that Italian sausage adds to this recipe. (You can use mild, sweet or hot Italian sausage, whichever you prefer.) Or alternately, you can just use plain ground pork instead of sausage. Or skip the pork and just use 2 pounds of ground beef.

If you can, I recommend paying a bit extra for a can of San Marzano whole tomatoes imported from Italy, which add amazing flavor to the sauce. Or if you can’t find those, just buy a good-quality (large) can of whole tomatoes. Pour them out into a separate bowl before adding them to the sauce and use your hands to crush and break them into smaller pieces, then add them to the sauce.

Bolognese is traditionally made with whole milk, but if you would like a richer sauce, feel free to add in 1/2 cup (or more) heavy cream or half and half instead of milk.

You can serve this Bolognese sauce any number of ways. But if you are pairing it with pasta or gnocchi, I recommend boiling approximately 1 pound of (uncooked) pasta in a large stockpot of generously-salted water until it is just 1 minute shy of al dente. Then use tongs to transfer the pasta or gnocchi directly into the bolognese sauce, along with a ladle-full of starchy water (if needed to thin the sauce), and toss continuously until the pasta is al dente.

Leftovers can be cooled to room temperature, then refrigerated in a sealed food storage container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 4 months.