Creamy pork and sausage bolognese sauce
- Preparation 15 min
- Cooking 27 min
- Servings 6 cups (1.5 L)
- Freezing Absolutely
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🍝 A weeknight bolognese, and it’s really good
This is my weeknight version. Ground pork, Italian sausages, carrots, mushrooms, cream and parmesan at the end. It’s not a ragoût-style sauce, it’s a bolognese. That’s very different.
🌶️ The flavour comes from the little extras
A pinch of nutmeg, hot pepper flakes: that’s what gives it flavour. The mushrooms stay in big pieces, on purpose. Tomato sauce with onions and herbs tastes better than plain, and I deglaze with a strong blonde beer. No beer at home? White wine or chicken stock does the job.
🍽️ Lasagna, pasta, or Italian poutine
I mostly use it for lasagna. Otherwise, pasta, plain and simple. And if you want to be funky, serve it over an Italian poutine. It freezes, so make a good batch.
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🍝 A bolognese, not a ragoût
I’ll say it again, because it’s the key: this isn’t a ragoût-style sauce, it’s a bolognese, and that’s very different. If you’re after a long, slow braise, look at my braised beef ragù sauce instead. Here, we’re on a weeknight sauce.
🥩 Drain the fat
After the pork and the sausages, before the beer. Otherwise the sauce is greasy and the pasta comes out shiny in the wrong way.
🍄 Big pieces are on purpose
I cut the mushrooms in half and no smaller. You want to feel them in your mouth. The nutmeg and hot pepper flakes are discreet in the pot, but leave them out and you’ll see the difference.
⏱️ Don’t pull it too early, and watch the bottom
A sauce that isn’t cooked enough won’t be good. Give it its full ten minutes of simmering, even if it already smells great. On the other hand, if you cook it too hard, it sticks to the bottom of the pot: lower the heat, scrape the bottom, and stir from time to time.
🧀 Parmesan and cream at the end
Add them in the last few minutes, not before. They blend into the sauce without it separating.
✅ What to serve with my creamy bolognese sauce
In my lasagna with bolognese sauce and cheese curds, it’s my number one use. Over tagliatelle or pappardelle, finished in the pan with a little cooking water, it’s very good too. To switch things up, try it on an Italian poutine. For a more classic sauce, my homemade spaghetti sauce is there too, and my pork and beef cannellonis are another good plan.
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Ingredients
- 1 medium Spanish onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Olive oil
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 450 g (1 lb / 16 oz) ground pork
- 2 Italian sausages with a chorizo flavour (or the Italian sausage of your choice), cut into pieces
- ½ cup (125 ml) strong blonde beer (or white wine, or chicken stock for an alcohol-free version)
- 1 can (398 ml / 14 oz) tomato sauce with onions and herbs
- 1 can (156 ml / 5.5 oz) herb tomato paste
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch crushed hot pepper flakes
- 110 g (½ punnet / 4 oz) white mushrooms, halved
- ¼ cup (60 ml) 15% cooking cream (or 35% cream)
- ½ cup (125 ml) freshly grated parmesan
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Preparation
- In a large pot over medium heat, sauté the onion, garlic and carrots in a drizzle of olive oil. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the ground pork and sausages. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes, breaking the meat into small pieces, until lightly pink. Drain the fat.
- Deglaze with the beer. Season with salt and pepper and stir well.
- Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, nutmeg, hot pepper flakes and mushrooms. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the parmesan and cream. Stir well and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Serve over fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle. For a perfect coating, finish the pasta directly in a hot pan with the sauce and ¼ cup (60 ml) of pasta cooking water. Toss until every strand is well coated.
They’re two different recipes. This one is a bolognese: ground pork and sausages, finished with cream and parmesan. My homemade spaghetti sauce has its own ingredients and its own place in my recipe book. And neither one is a ragoût-style sauce, like my braised beef ragù.
Yes. Replace the strong blonde beer with white wine, or with homemade chicken stock for an alcohol-free version. Either way, you deglaze the same way.
Yes, it works. I suggest the one with onions and herbs because it tastes better.
In the fridge, it keeps for 3 to 5 days. It freezes very well: divide it into 2-cup (500 ml) portions in airtight containers. The recipe makes about 6 cups (1.5 L) of sauce, so three portions.
Many grocery stores carry them. Otherwise, grab fresh spicy sausages or regular hot Italian sausages: they do the job.
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