Cooking

Not a bad hour's work.

I’ve already posted my go-to bolognese recipe, but sometimes you want a hearty sauce that doesn’t take half a day to make. Behold: quick bolognese in under 45 minutes, even less if you buy pre-chopped onions and carrots from the supermarket.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook onion and carrot until softened, about 5 minutes. Add meat and cook, breaking up large chunks, until no longer pink (5 minutes).

Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Add wine and cook until reduced by half, 2-4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Add milk and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Toss with pasta and serve.

Results

It’s not quite as good as the all-day bolognese, but will do on a weeknight when you can’t spend hours in the kitchen.

* Note: Don’t use this sauce in lasagna. While it tastes rich and time-consuming, it tends to separate and become more watery than the slow-cooking variety, and likely wouldn’t hold its stability in a lasagna.