Giada De Laurentiis Just Dropped The Easiest Bolognese Recipe
Bolognese sauce is one of those Italian dishes that's known for taking a long time to make. Traditionally, the hearty specialty is made by cooking savory cuts of meat, like veal, beef, or pork, low and slow for hours in a tomato-based sauce that contains diced veggies. Bolognese also usually includes wine, and sometimes the sauce incorporates pancetta or another cured meat. Some people even add a splash of milk to their recipe — Geoffrey Zakarian's Bolognese recipe is a good look at the traditional sauce.
To many people, that may all sound delicious — but like a lot of work and waiting. So, Giada De Laurentiis, the Food Network cooking show host and cookbook author who is known for her modern takes on classic Italian fare, decided to make the beloved sauce a little simpler. She just shared a recipe for her 20-minute Bolognese on Instagram, and though it isn't quite as luxurious or layered with flavor as the original, it's still the fastest way to satisfy your Bolognese craving on the days when you don't have several hours to dedicate to sauce-simmering.
De Laurentiis' quick Bolognese has a secret ingredient
While a typically Bolognese recipe might call for a can of crushed, diced, or whole tomatoes, De Laurentiis found a shortcut to getting more tomato flavor in less time. She uses canned cherry tomatoes, which she says are "so sweet and delicious already, they don't require much cooking time" (via Giadzy).
For the meat, De Laurentiis uses standard ground beef, an affordable option most people can find at their local grocery store — and one that cooks up quickly. The browned ground beef simmers in a sauce made from the canned cherry tomatoes, a Parmesan rind (you should always save your Parmesan rinds), basil, and some additional aromatics until the veggies are tender, the meat is cooked through, and the sauce is slightly thickened. Toss the mixture with your favorite pasta, and you'll have Bolognese in minutes, rather than the hours it might have taken if an Italian grandmother beholden to tradition had made it. As for the reviews, people who have made the recipe seem more than satisfied, with one Giadzy user raving, "Easy and absolutely divine. Very fast yet tastes like it cooked the old fashioned way."