Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce is one of my favorite pasta dishes. The sauce is thick and hearty with lots of meat, both pork and beef, and tons of flavor from white wine and some onion, carrot, and celery. Pure comfort food on a cold winter night.
Simmered slowly with white wine and milk, the meat gets super tender.
In fact, the meat and liquid ingredients just kind of unify into one, creating a super thick and flavorful sauce. Typically, red wine would be used in a Bolognese Sauce and I’m sure this sauce would taste just as good, and probably even more robust if you used red wine.
Pappardelle is the perfect pasta to pair with this Bolognese Sauce. It is substantial enough to stand up to a rich, thick sauce.
Even though I’ve checked at least 10 times, I feel certain I spelled pappardelle wrong at least once. It’s making me feel like I have OCD! I wish pasta names weren’t so hard to spell.
How To Make Spicy
If you want your bolognese sauce to be spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes.
Storage
Leftovers will keep for 4 to 5 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This recipe serves four, but you will have leftover sauce. It freezes very well.
More Italian Dinner Recipes
- Slow Cooker Sausage Lasagna
- Italian Sausage Manicotti
- One-Pot Ziti with Sausage
- Spaghetti Casserole
- Creamy Angel Hair Pasta with Bacon and Shrimp
- Spicy Tomato Cream Pasta
Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion, quartered
- 1 small carrot, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 celery rib, cut into 4 pieces
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground chuck
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 2 teaspoons table salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 pound pappardelle
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
Instructions
- Place onion, carrot, and celery in a food processor and pulse until in small pieces. Set aside.
- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and onion, carrot, celery mixture. Saute for 3 minutes.
- Add ground chuck and pork and break up as much as possible. Sprinkle with salt and add milk. Cook until milk is reduced and meat starts to sizzle, 10 to 15 minutes. (It took at LEAST 15 minutes for me.)
- Mix in wine and continue to cook until wine reduces by half. Reduce heat to simmer and add tomato paste. Stir in completely.
- Add tomato puree, sugar, and water and mix well. Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Stir often. Add more water if sauce gets too thick.
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Pour into a large serving bowl, mix in sauce, top with grated parmesan and basil.
Nutrition
Want to Save This Recipe?
Recipe Source: adapted from Cristina Ferrare
Originally posted December 1, 2014.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
Try adding 1 or 2 ground cloves (Or a whole;as in the spice) and dash of cinnamon And 1 tsp of pepper and no water or sugar Trust me. You’ll die and thought you went to heaven.
I made this substituted ground chicken for beef and used hot Italian sausages, used anchovies and some of the anchovy oil and red wine. It was amazing!
Definitely craving a massive bowlful of this pappardelle bolognese right now. It looks BEYOND delicious!
Damn delicious pasta!!!
I love pappardelle pasta, and that meat sauce looks so hearty and delicious! I’ll be grabbing a plate now. 🙂
Oh god I am just drooling here over your delicious images of this bolognese. Totally craving a bowlful to devour right now, pinned!
Wow, I am definitely craving for big plate of pasta now! This looks incredible, Christin! I love that you used pappardelle too, they are my favorite 🙂
I’ve never actually made a traditional Bolognese sauce — this looks perfect! And I bet the addition of milk in the sauce adds some amazing depth!
Bolognese sauce if one of my favorite tomato based sauces. I also love using the leftover sauce over baked potatoes, so yummy. Your recipe sounds so good, I’m thinking of making some soon.
This looks amazing!
Mmmm pasta bolognese is one of my favorite winter pasta dishes, and yours looks so hearty and comforting! Love it!
*Drool, drool, drool* This looks so yummy! It’s perfect comfort food.
This looks like the perfect comfort food to enjoy on a cold winter night!
This pasta looks amazing!