I have been making this Kosher Spaghetti Bolognese recipe for years. Also called spaghetti alla bolognese, this is one of those food recipes that is so quick and easy that I make it all the time. Family friendly and super yummy. This recipe is kosher, non-dairy, soy free, and can be made vegan with one small adjustment. Read on to learn how to make the best Spaghetti Bolognese from scratch with this simple recipe.
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What Is In Kosher Spaghetti Bolognese?
There are many recipes floating around out there for an authentic recipe of spaghetti bolognese, which can also be referred to as a ragu. A traditional spaghetti Bolognese recipe contains milk. Obviously, for kosher reasons, we do not use milk in our recipe but I have found pareve milk like plain almond milk or soy milk works fantastically. Just please do not make the mistake I once made: be absolutely certain your pareve milk is not vanilla flavored!! That really screws up the spaghetti Bolognese taste. This recipes calls for wine which I know is something not everyone likes to cook with. It is not absolutely necessary to use the wine but it does add so much depth of flavor to the sauce, I highly recommend you use it. The alcohol of the wine is completely cooked out of the final product. Some recipes call for balsamic vinegar but this one does not.
This Recipe Is Healthy
When looking at a sauce as rich and deep in flavor as this one it is usually assumed that it is also fatty and unhealthy. This could not be further from the truth. Most of the fat comes from the ground beef and a lot of that fat is removed before the final sauce is put together. It is also ok to use a leaner ground beef or ground turkey for less total fat.
Other than the meat, the rest of this dish is vegetables and pasta. One of the nice things about a bolognese ragu such as this one is, due to the long cooking time, it is more of a very thick sauce or stew consistency. It is easy to increase the amount of vegetables in the sauce and into your meal. In a pinch, the long simmering time can be skipped but to get the most out of this rich delicious meat sauce recipe, you absolutely should try cooking this sauce for its entirety.
Recipe FAQ
Bologna spaghetti, or spaghetti alla bolognese. The recipe gets its name from the sauce which is called a Bolognese sauce. This Italian classic sauce gets its name from the city Bologna in Italy where the rich meat based sauce made is commonly served.
Interestingly enough, the Italian bolognese recipe has very little (if any) tomato sauce, tomato paste, or tomato ingredients at all. It is thought that the tomato was introduced to the recipe after it left of Italy.
The Italian Academy of Cuisine published its official recipe for spaghetti Bologna in 1982 and it contains no tomato at all. Despite this, there is no real consensus as to the "real" spaghetti alla bolognese recipe and variants are found all over the world (a lot of them use tomatoes just like ours).This information comes from wikipedia but my dad who was a chef and does a lot of business in Italy and speaks fluent Italian has corroborated it.
Serving Suggestions
This is an easy spaghetti bolognese dish that screams out for some tweaks. Not because it needs it, but because it can take on so many other flavors so well. This makes this kosher spaghetti bolognese recipe so much fun to experiment with. Try these creative and exciting serving suggestions:
- Spice it up. Sprinkling some crushed red pepper flakes over the top.
- Make your spaghetti Bolognese vegetarian. Use vegan meat instead of ground beef and load on the parmesan cheese or shredded mozzarella.
- More veggies. Add diced mushrooms or finely chopped spinach.
- Bread bowl Bolognese. Serve the bolognese ragu in a bread bowl instead of over pasta.
- Use riced cauliflower instead of pasta to go carb free.
- Squash. Bake a spaghetti squash and fill with bolognese sauce.
- Burgers and dogs. Top a hamburger or hot dog with the bolognese sauce.
- You don't have to use spaghetti, there are literally hundreds of pasta varieties to choose from.
- Pour the sauce over scrambled eggs.
- Pour the bolognese sauce into a baking pan and put puff pastry over the top. Bake according to the directions on the package of the puff pastry.
- Use a dry red wine instead of a dry white wine for a different base flavor.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 2 small carrot thinly sliced
- 4 large celery whole stalks thinly sliced or diced
- 4 garlic cloves finely diced
- salt
- pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine*
- 2 cups plain pareve milk or broth of choice
- 28 oz diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes do not drain
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 lb spaghetti or pasta of choice
Instructions
- Over medium heat, warm olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and ½ teaspoon of salt. Sautee for 10-15 minutes until vegetables begin to soften.
- Remove vegetables from pan and store in a bowl to be added in later.
- Add meat in batches to brown. Break up meat with wooden spoon into small lumps. As meat cooks push aside and add more meat until all meat is added and no longer pink. Drain pan of excess oil, if desired.
- Cook meat in the pan for about 8-10 minutes to allow meat to caramelize and for most of the water that comes out of the meat to evaporate. Watch carefully to avoid burning. There should be bits of meat caramelization sticking to the bottom of your pan.
- Add in the cup of white wine and use the wooden spoon to scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of your pan. This is called Deglazing. Allow the wine to evaporate lowering the heat if necessary..
- Add the vegetables back in along with the pareve milk, diced tomatoes with liquid from can, beef stock, 1-2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
- Bring to a boil then lower to the lowest heat possible to allow for light simmering. Let meat sauce slowly simmer, half- covered, for 4 hours** stirring occasionally. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Boil spaghetti in a pot of highly salted water as directed on package just before serving. Do I do not save the pasta water for this recipe, drain it out.
Notes
- Spice it up. Sprinkling some crushed red pepper flakes over the top.
- Make your spaghetti Bolognese vegetarian. Use vegan meat instead of ground beef and load on the parmesan cheese or shredded mozzarella.
- More veggies. Add diced mushrooms or finely chopped spinach.
- Bread bowl Bolognese. Serve the bolognese ragu in a bread bowl instead of over pasta.
- Use riced cauliflower instead of pasta to go carb free.
Devorah
On step 4... what temperature setting should the burner be at? This looks delish!
Ben
The flame should be kept at medium high for step 4.
Marilyn Estreicher
One of my favorite dishes. Totally delicious!
Debbie Burg
how would I make this recipe without tomatoes? I've been told not to eat them for medical reasons. (and other items as well)
Caryn
I'm sure you could leave the tomatoes out and it would still taste delicious. You might need to add more liquid. Please let us know how it comes out!