Bolognese sauce

Nagi Maehashi presents this as her everyday Bolognese sauce, with rich flavor and a thick texture. She describes Bolognese as a tomato-based minced-meat sauce made in varied ways across Italy and elsewhere; this account selects her quick beef version.

Olive oil softens garlic and the selected yellow onion before beef mince is browned and broken up. Dry red wine then simmers in the same pan while the bottom is scraped.

Canned crushed tomato, tomato paste, the author’s named beef stock cubes, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, fresh thyme, kosher salt and black pepper join. White sugar is included only if needed, and the selected uncovered simmer allows extra water if the sauce becomes too thick.

This account also selects the author’s optional spaghetti toss. Dried spaghetti cooks separately in salted water; some of that same cooking water is reserved before draining and returned while the pasta and sauce are tossed until the sauce thickens and coats the red-colored strands.

The finished bowls can receive the selected optional Parmesan and chopped parsley. The slow-simmer, slow-cooker, mixed-meat and added-vegetable versions remain separate choices, as do the source’s suggested breads, salads and other meal courses.