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Slow Bolognese

A long-simmered meat sauce with milk and a soffritto base, worth the wait on a cold evening.

Slow Bolognese, plated and ready to serve
Serves
4
Total time
105 min
Cost per serving (United States)
$12.76

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 lb ground beef (80/20)
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 yellow onions
  • 3/8 lb carrots
  • 3/8 bunch celery
  • 3 clove garlic
  • 3 oz tomato paste
  • 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup dry red wine (cooking)
  • 12 oz spaghetti
  • 2 oz grated parmesan cheese

Method

  1. Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery and cook them in the olive oil over medium-low heat 12 minutes, until sweet and soft.

  2. Raise the heat, add the beef and brown it well, breaking it up.

  3. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook until the paste darkens, then pour in the wine and let it reduce away.

  4. Add the milk and simmer until absorbed, then add the crushed tomatoes and a good pinch of salt.

  5. Simmer on the lowest heat at least an hour, stirring occasionally, until deep and thick.

  6. Cook the spaghetti, toss it with the sauce and a splash of pasta water, and serve with parmesan.

What this costs, country by country

Each figure is the ingredients for the full recipe at prices read in that country’s own shops, in its own currency. Nothing here is converted from dollars.

The cost of this recipe in 11 countries, each in its own currency, with how many of the 12 ingredients we could price in each. Figures are not converted between currencies, so the rows cannot be ranked against each other.
CountryWhole recipePer servingPriced from
United Kingdom£42.99£10.7512 of 12 ingredients
Australia$65.53$16.3812 of 12 ingredients
Canada$101.31$25.3312 of 12 ingredients
United States$51.04$12.7611 of 12 ingredients
Spain22,16 €5,54 €11 of 12 ingredients
Austria€ 50,86€ 12,7211 of 12 ingredients
New Zealand$83.74$20.9410 of 12 ingredients
Germany45,83 €11,46 €10 of 12 ingredients
Mexico$1,472.91$368.2310 of 12 ingredients
Greece26,69 €*6,67 €8 of 12 ingredients
Egypt‏٧٦٤٫٠٨ ج.م.‏*‏١٩١٫٠٢ ج.م.‏8 of 12 ingredients

* We have read fewer than seven in ten of these ingredients in that country, so the total is a partial figure and the real one is higher.

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