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Mary Berry Bolognese Recipe

Mary Berry Bolognese Recipe

Mary Berry’s bolognese is a slow-cooked, richly flavoured beef and pork ragù — deeply savoury, completely wonderful, and the definitive pasta sauce.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 4 Portions
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: British
Calories: 380
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Bolognese:
  • 400 g beef mince 15–20% fat
  • 200 g pork mince
  • 2 tbsp olive oil 25g unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion very finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks very finely chopped
  • 2 medium carrots very finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 150 ml whole milk
  • 150 ml dry white wine
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 200 ml beef stock
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Salt and pepper
  • To Serve:
  • 500 g tagliatelle pappardelle, or rigatoni
  • Freshly grated Parmesan extra virgin olive oil

Method
 

  1. Heat oil and butter over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, and carrot 15–18 minutes until completely soft and slightly golden. Add garlic — 2 minutes.
  2. Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef and pork mince — break up thoroughly. Brown 10–12 minutes until deeply browned and all liquid has evaporated.
  3. Reduce to medium. Add milk — stir to combine. Cook until completely absorbed — 8–10 minutes.
  4. Add wine — cook until almost completely evaporated — 8–10 minutes.
  5. Add tomato purée — 1 minute. Add tinned tomatoes, stock, oregano, and bay leaf. Season. Add nutmeg. Bring to gentle simmer — lowest heat. Cook partially covered 2–3 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Season assertively.
  6. Cook pasta to al dente. Toss with bolognese. Serve with Parmesan and olive oil.

Notes

Cook the soffritto 15–18 minutes — the sweet, soft vegetable base is the flavour foundation.
Brown the meat until genuinely dry and sizzling — not pale and grey. This is the most important step.
The milk step is not optional — it gives the gentleness and rounded richness of the authentic version.
Cook for at least 2 hours — 3 is significantly better. This is not a sauce that can be rushed.
Beef and pork together give a more complex, more tender sauce than all-beef alone.
Freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Better on day 2 and 3 than day 1.
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