Description
This bolognese bake is serious comfort food—rich, filling, and a big batch can last for days! My kind of recipe! Slow-cooked in a Dutch oven, letting the flavors meld together, paired with rigatoni pasta and topped with bubbling mozzarella and Parmesan, it’s the kind of comfort food that makes everyone drool when it comes bubbling out of the oven.
Ingredients
Bolognese Meat Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- 500g beef mince
- 80g streaky bacon, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- 4 button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp porcini powder
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 c beef stock
- 700g jar of passata
- 1/2 c red wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 400g Rigatoni dried pasta
Cheesy Topping
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1/4 c flour
- 500ml full cream milk
- 100g vintage cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 heaped tablespoon grana padano or reggiano parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- sea salt flakes, to season
- freshly ground black pepper, to season
- 180g mozzarella cheese, grated
Instructions
Bolognese Sauce
- Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F.
- In a cast-iron French oven, add the oil to the pan. On a low heat, saute the onion until translucent.
- Add the bacon and garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the minced beef to the pot. Cook on low-med heat until the mince is just cooked.
- Add to the pot the remaining ingredients. Stir to fully combine and bring to simmer point. Pop the lid on the pot and put it in the preheated oven to slow cook for 2 hours. Once cooked, remove from the oven and set aside.
- Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in a pot of water. Drain the pasta and add it to the bolognese pasta sauce. Stir through to combine and pop aside.
Cheesy Bechamel Topping
While the bolognese is cooking, make the bechamel sauce…
- On a low heat, melt the butter in a small saucepan or Dutch oven. Add the flour and stir until it forms a paste. Cook, stirring continuously, on low heat for 5 minutes. This is needed to cook out the flour.
- Add 1 cup of milk, continually stirring to allow the milk to incorporate into the flour mixture (or roux). At this stage, change from using your wooden spoon to stir to a whisk. It will make it much easier to get a smooth, creamy sauce. Gradually add the remaining milk a little at a time, stirring continuously until the mixture resembles a thick, creamy sauce. A bechamel sauce can take a lot of liquid, so don’t be afraid if it looks really runny. Cooking the sauce will cause the sauce to thicken. If it thickens too much, just add more milk.
- Add the grated cheeses and stir through to melt them into the sauce.
- Season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground pepper.
To Assemble
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F.
- Pop the pasta bolognese into a large baking dish and make sure the pasta is roughly in an even layer.
- Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the top of the pasta sauce.
- Top with grated mozzarella and bake in the preheted oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and eat!
Notes
This recipe was slow-cooked in my 24cm enamel cast iron Dutch oven. I also used my trusty 20cm Dutch oven to make the bechamel sauce, as well as a 40cm x 26cm enamel roasting pan to bake the Bolognese bake in.
If you precook the Bolognese sauce a day ahead, you’ll find that the sauce will thicken overnight. When reheating, add a little water to the pot and stir in!
Store any leftovers in the fridge covered with plastic wrap or a silicone lid for up to three days. Or cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for up to one month.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 721
- Sugar: 10.2 g
- Sodium: 811.6 mg
- Fat: 38.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 55.7 g
- Protein: 33.1 g
- Cholesterol: 95.1 mg