Author Notes
With the days getting colder, we were in need of comfort food. For me, that meant pasta bolognese and I wanted to use my slow cooker. There's something comforting about food gently simmering away in a Crockpot. This bolognese is adapted from a few recipes. The resulting sauce is so good (without being too rich) that we had pasta bolognese all week. Use a red wine that you like to drink. It doesn't have to be an expensive red. In fact, I used my husband's favorite red, the Yellowtail shiraz-cabernet blend, which is ~$7 a bottle and the resulting sauce is swoon-worthy. —HalfPint
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Ingredients
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2 cups
chopped carrots (~2 large carrots)
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2 cups
chopped celery (~3 large celery stalks)
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3 cups
chopped onions (~1 very large onion)
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1 tablespoon
minced garlic
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3 tablespoons
olive oil
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3 tablespoons
tomato paste
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2 teaspoons
dried oregano, crushed finely with your hands
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2 teaspoons
dried thyme or thyme powder
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2 pounds
ground beef
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28 ounces
canned whole peeled tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes
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1 cup
whole milk
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1 cup
drinkable dry red wine
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2
bay leaves
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2 teaspoons
salt, plus more if needed
Directions
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In a large skillet, brown the carrots, celery, onions & garlic in the olive oil.
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Once the vegetables start to caramelize, add the oregano and thyme. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the tomato paste. Mix to combine the tomato paste. You'll get a lovely orange/red tinge to the mixture. Cook and stir for ~1 minute, taking care not to burn the mixture. Transfer to slow cooker.
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Add tomatoes to the slow cooker with the vegetable mixture. If using whole peeled tomatoes, crush the tomatoes with your hand and add to the slow cooker.
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In the same skillet, brown the beef. You can do in batches if needed. Transfer to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon if there's too much fat. I use grass-fed beef that is probably ~15% fat and doesn't have much fat rendered out after browning.
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Add milk, wine, salt, and bay leaves slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cover with lid. Cook on High for 3-4 hours or on Low for ~6 hours, stirring about every hour or so.
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Taste and add more salt if needed. Discard the bay leaves. Serve with your favorite pasta.
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Note: this makes a fairly thick sauce. When I make pasta bolognese, I keep ~1/2 cup of the pasta water to add to the sauce, then I finish the pasta in the sauce.
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