Bolognese is one of my favorite pasta sauces. Rich, meaty, and full of flavor. So, naturally, I decided that I should smoke it. Let’s see how it turns out.
What is Bolognese?
Bolognese is a ragu, or meat-based sauce, that is associated with Bologna, Italy. It’s an Italian meat sauce. It’s amazing. Bolognese is used most commonly to dress tagliatelle and other broad noodles that are great at holding all of the little meaty bits. But, is also used in lasagna alla bolognese.
This rich, meaty sauce is slowly cooked to perfection, creating a thick delicious sauce. It begins with a soffritto, which is a mix of onions, celery, and carrots. Meat is then added. Usually beef and pork. Then comes white wine, milk, and some tomato paste or sauce. Then is all gently simmered to produce a thick sauce.
What makes this Bolognese different?
Well, it’s smoked. That’s the biggest difference. Outside of that, there are a couple steps out of order and maybe some slight variations in ingredients. For instance, I am adding bacon to bump up the smokiness even more. Traditionally, some recipes may call for pancetta, which is a form of bacon that is cured, but not smoked. We like smoking things that you don’t normally think of being smoked, like our Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash. If we can smoke it, we will!
The other difference would be in the order of combining the ingredients. Traditionally, from what I have found, you would start with the soffritto and then add the meat, followed by wine, then tomatoes, and ending with milk. For this version I started with the soffritto, then skipped directly to the wine and then tomatoes and some chicken broth. The meat is being added later after being smoked.
How do you make Smokehouse Bolognese sauce?
Recently, I have been seeing a lot of people on YouTube making “over the top chili”. Basically, what they are doing is combining all of the chili ingredients in a pot, and then smoking the meat on a wire rack above the pot. The meat is formed into a “loaf”, similar to meatloaf, smoked until it hits 165°, and then broken up and add into the chili. While the meat smokes, all of the fat and juices from the meat render out and drip into the chili below. Seems like a neat way to make some good chili.
So, as I was watching these videos, it occurred to me that I could use a similar method to make a smoked variation of a Bolognese sauce. I could make a very Americanized version with bacon and lots of smoke. So, here we are and, let me tell you, I don’t regret it ONE BIT.
What is Smoked Bolognese used for?
In this house, we primarily use Bolognese with some type of wide noodle. Pappardelle and Rigatoni have been two of my favorite ways to enjoy it. These wide noodles are great for providing plenty of surface area for these meaty bits to cling to. With the Rigatoni, the big gaping hole through the middle of the noodle gives a terrific spot for the sauce to travel from the plate, to your mouth hole.
One other way that Bolognese can be used is in Lasagna Bolognese. Layer big, fat lasagna noodles with meaty Bolognese, and creamy Bechamel sauce. A tremendous way to utilize this sauce.
What ingredients will I need to make Smokehouse Bolognese?
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork
- Bacon
- Yellow Onions
- Celery
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil– I used Graza Sizzle oil. Grab a bottle HERE.
- Red or White Wine
- Crushed Tomatoes– Grab some HERE.
- Chicken Broth– Homemade is always best, but THIS works well too.
- Bay Leaves
- Nutmeg– Grab some HERE.
- Whole Milk
- Salt and Pepper
- Instant Read Thermometer– Grab one HERE.
- Pellet Smoker– I use a Pitboss. Grab one HERE. If you don’t have one and you don’t want one, you can easily just sauté your meat directly in the pot and skip the whole “smoked version”….you will still have an amazing sauce.
Smokehouse Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 2 pounds Ground Pork
- 12 oz Bacon
- 3 each Carrots, Large
- 4 stalks Celery
- 3 each Yellow Onion
- 8 cloves Garlic
- 1 can Crushed Tomatoes, 27.9 oz can
- 2 cups Dry White Wine or Red Wine Use what you have or what you prefer, both are good.
- 4 each Bay Leaves
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 4 cups Whole Milk
- 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano More to taste, if needed, depending on serving size
- 2-3 tsp Sea Salt Salt to taste
- 2-3 tsp Black Pepper Season to taste
Instructions
- Prep the meat: use a sharp knife or a food processor to mince the bacon. Mince it fine enough to closely match the grind of the pork and beef. Now, mix the ground beef, ground pork, and minced bacon together and form a giant patty or loaf. It will be roughly 3" thick. Set aside and save for later.
- Prep the veggies: With a knife or food processor, finely mince the carrots, celery, and onions. Mix together and set aside. Mince the garlic and keep separate from the other veggies.
- Preheat the smoker to 250° F
- In a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed stock pot, add some extra virgin olive oil and set over medium heat on a burner of your stove. Once the oil is hot, add the carrots, celery, and onions. Cook until they begin to soften a bit.
- Once the veggie mix has cooked for a few minutes, add the minced garlic and continue to cook.
- Now, add the can of tomatoes and the wine to the pot with the veggies. Stir to combine, while scraping the bottom of the pan to break loose any bits that may have stuck during the sautéing. Bring to a simmer.
- Grab a wire rack that is big enough to sit on top of your pot. Transfer the pot to the preheated smoker and place wire rack on top of the pot. Now, add your pre-formed meat loaf on top of the wire rack, over the tomato/veggie mixture.
- Close the lid and allow the meat to cook, over the top of the pot, for about 2-3 hours. You can cook the meat until it hits 165° internal temp. If the meat does not reach 165°, it's not a huge deal, as we are going to finish cooking it in the sauce anyway. The most important thing is getting the smoke flavor in the meat and, after 2-3 hours, this task is complete.
- After meat is finished cooking, remove the pot and meat from the smoker and place back on the stovetop burner. Crumble the meat into the pot with the tomatoes, wine, and veggies. Break it down into the smallest pieces that you can manage. We still have a lot of simmering time, so you will have plenty of opportunities to continue to break the meat down as it cooks. Feel free to use a potato masher to accomplish this.
- Once meat is crumbled into the sauce mixture, bring to a simmer of medium heat. Just a gentle simmer is all you need. If a rapid boil occurs, just turn the heat down a bit. Allow the mixture to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated off and begins to thicken a bit.
- Add the 4 cups of chicken broth, bay leaves, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to the pot and continue to simmer for, roughly, another hour. Again, we are looking for a good amount of liquid to cook off and begin to thicken again.
- We have now reached our final addition of liquid. Add the 4 cups of whole milk and, once again, simmer until the sauce has thickened and most of the liquid has evaporated off. We are looking for our final sauce consistency now. It should be nice and thick, but still have a bit of sauciness to it. Thick enough to not be sloshing around, but not thick enough to where it is like a paste.
- We can now remove the sauce from the heat and prepare to serve. Go ahead and prep your pasta. I like Pappardelle or Rigatoni for serving Bolognese. You just want a good, wide noodle that will pick up all those meaty bits. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and leave it al dente. We will continue to cook it in the sauce for a few minutes.
- This recipe makes a large batch of sauce and will likely make 2-3 meals for a bigger family. I like to portion it out and throw some in the freezer for quicker meals. Or, save some to make lasagna later.
- In a large skillet, over medium heat, add your desired amount of Bolognese and begin to heat. Add your pasta of choice and toss with the Bolognese, as you cook. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano and give it one last tossing to combine.
- Remove from heat and plate it up. Enjoy!
