In Italy, Bolognese is an everyday sauce made with ground beef (or sometimes pork), onions, carrots and celery. It’s not a tomato-based ragù like we know it here in the U.S. It’s also not something you’d necessarily want to cook in a saucepan unless you want your kitchen to smell like boiled meat for days. Fortunately, there are many ways to make Bolognese that will leave you feeling less sad about leaving Italy and more excited to taste it again tomorrow. Making Bolognese at home is actually quite simple; you just have to use the right tools. That means no saucepans! The trick with making a perfect Bolognese is in the technique rather than the ingredients; once you have that figured out, it’s all about keeping things simple so as not to muddy the final product with weird flavors or textures.
Can You Cook Bolognese In A Saucepan?
This is actually a very common question. The reason people ask it is because Bolognese is a meat sauce made with tomatoes; so isn’t it going to boil (i.e., break down and “separate”) if you make it in a saucepan? Yes, it will, but the sauce will also be watery, bland and, frankly, disgusting. Saucepans are made to conduct heat efficiently; they don’t retain stock or liquid very well and they don’t let anything settle or thicken. That’s why, when you cook Bolognese in a saucepan, you get a watery, break-y mess. The other problem with using a saucepan is that you’ll also be steaming the aromatics, which also end up tasting more like water than anything else.
Why You Shouldn’t Cook Bolognese In A Saucepan
We’ve established that a saucepan is not the best choice when it comes to cooking Bolognese. But there are plenty of other, better options. So why shouldn’t you cook Bolognese in a saucepan? – You’ll lose flavor and aroma. When you use a saucepan to make Bolognese, you’re basically steaming the onions, carrots and celery. You’ll lose a lot of their delicious flavor as well as their ability to thicken the sauce. – You’ll never get a good, rich color on the meat. Bolognese is all about the long, low-and-slow cooking time that breaks down the connective tissues in the meat and releases all their rich, savory flavor. That will never happen in a saucepan. – You won’t have a chance to emulsify the fat and liquid. Bolognese, like all good meat sauces, is all about the emulsification of fat and liquid. When you use a saucepan, you’re going to have a hard time emulsifying. And that’s going to leave you with a grainy, unappetizing result.
How to Make Bolognese Without a Sauce Pan
Like we said, saucepans are not optimized for long, slow cooking processes like Bolognese. So what are the best pots for making it? There are plenty of other pots that are better suited for making Bolognese. Here are a few of our favorites: – A Dutch oven is a wonderful choice for making Bolognese. It has a wide, heavy bottom that will distribute heat evenly, a tight-fitting lid to trap in flavor, and a wide mouth for easy stirring and serving. – A casserole dish or a heavy-duty (i.e., not just “ovenproof”) baking pan is another good option for making Bolognese.
Use a Dutch Oven For Rich, Long-Cooking Meat Sauces
The Dutch oven is one of the best things ever invented. It’s great for simmering stews, braising meats and even baking! It’s an all-in-one pot that can be used on the stovetop and in the oven, which is perfect for a long-cooking sauce like Bolognese. – The Dutch oven works especially well for Bolognese because it has a wide bottom and a tight-fitting lid to hold in the steam. It will also retain heat, so you don’t have to worry about it cooling down before the Bolognese is done. – If you use a Dutch oven for Bolognese, make sure to choose one that’s big enough to hold all the ingredients comfortably. Also, make sure you use a Dutch oven with a thick base; the last thing you want is for your delicious sauce to burn on the bottom of the pot.
Use A Pressure Cooker For Rich, Short-Cooking Meat Sauces
The pressure cooker is an amazing tool that’s unfortunately fallen out of fashion with home cooks. People seem to be afraid of pressure cookers now that they’re not made out of weird-looking oil-based metal. But they’re perfectly safe. You just have to follow a few simple rules and be careful not to mess up the pot. – A pressure cooker, when used correctly, can break down connective tissues and shorten cooking times by up to 70%. Perfect for getting a Bolognese on the table quickly! – If you use a pressure cooker for Bolognese, make sure to use the “manual” setting. This will allow you to control the pressure and cooking time. – When making Bolognese in a pressure cooker, you don’t have to brown the meat first; just throw it in the pot along with the rest of the ingredients.
Use An Instant Pot To Make Bolognese Fast and Easy
The Instant Pot is a very popular multi-functional electric pressure cooker that’s especially good at making rich, short-cooking stews and sauces quickly. It’s also very simple to use. – If you make Bolognese in an Instant Pot, you can use the “saute” setting to brown the meat, then just press “manual” and set the timer for 30 minutes (or more if you like a thicker sauce). – If you choose to use an Instant Pot, be careful not to fill it more than halfway. There’s very little room in there, so you’ll risk a messy, messy boilover.
Summary
That’s why you shouldn’t cook Bolognese in a saucepan. Instead, use a Dutch oven, a casserole dish or a pressure cooker. The liquid will thicken and emulsify properly, and the aromatics will have enough space to release all their rich, delicious flavor. The best pots for making Bolognese are those that have a wide, heavy bottom and a lid. The best types of pots for making Bolognese are Dutch ovens, casserole dishes and pressure cookers.