Traditional Italian Bolognese Sauce
I thought my momma’s RED tomato bolognese sauce would be an appropriate recipe to kick off our “Share the Love Healthy Recipes Week”!
All week long you will be seeing some fabulous recipes shared from some lovely talented bloggers.
Enjoy and don’t forget to store all your favorites on a pin board. Pinterest is a great place to keep your recipes you want to eventually make in an easy to find, organized place. You just add a pin to the picture you like and name your board to store it on. I keep the ones I want to try on a board called “Recipes I want to make”. Then when you want to try the recipe you go to that board on pinterest and click the pic and it brings you directly to the recipe! Super easy, super quick, totally addictive!
My Mom has made homemade Italian tomato sauce every single Sunday of my entire life. I grew up never eating any sauce in restaurants…… they just couldn’t compare. Many store bought sauces were always so…so…so….unbearably sweet I just never liked them. I love my mom’s sauce and it will always be the best I’ve ever had! So of course I had to I ASK if I could use her recipe and thankfully she was kind enough to agree, which means yeah for us!
I share this recipe of LOVE, this sauce that has been passed down from my grandmother to my mother and to me, serious love her folks!
I share it with you, my readers of SFM, because I know you will cherish it as I have. I know you will adore this sauce and never want to purchase store bought sauce again learning how easy it is to make such a mouthwatering, delicious sauce.
You can make this completely vegetarian and exclude the sausage if you like. I can’t vouch for the taste as I always make it with the sausage. If you don’t like traditionally chunky type of sauces or need to hide the onions from your kiddies I would recommend just making the sauce and then put it in a food processor to smooth out the chunkiness. The kids will never know there is onion in there, but the flavor it adds I just wouldn’t tell you to leave it out…nope, I just can’t. I wouldn’t substitute or change this sauce in anyway. Trust me, why mess with perfect right?!
You could also spice this sauce up by adding red pepper flakes as my mom does, but with my kiddies they just won’t have it. But either way its the most perfect chunky sauce you will ever have!
Interested in a meatless version? Check out my Quick Italian Marinara Sauce!
- 6 oz. pork sausage
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 c. onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 c. water
- 2-28 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes ( I used Tuttorosso, but I also like Pastene)
- 2 tsp. dried fennel seed
- 2 tsp. dried basil
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pepper
- 2 tsp. dried parsley
- In a dutch oven or large pot, heat oil on medium heat and add pork sausage.
- Cook sausage until golden brown then add onion and garlic. Saute onion until translucent.
- Add crushed tomato, water and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour.
- If the sauce is too thick add more water. If its too thin for your liking add some tomato paste.
- Keep refrigerated or freeze in an airtight container.
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Hello . Without any sweetener won’t the tomato sauce be too acidic? Thanks .
I don’t feel it is but you can add a sugar free sweetener of choice if you prefer.
Are those pork sausages cooked whole in their casings?
Or are they squeezed out of their casings for the meat flavor to develop through the sauce?
I removed casings and squeezed out meat.
Thank you for this recipe. This sauce is becoming our family tradition. I just made a huge double batch for the holidays and added this to family recipes to pass down to my kiddos someday. It’s that good. We really appreciate you sharing this with us.
SO awesome to hear!
Wow, so good yet so simple! This will definitely be a staple in our house!
love the marinara sauce. now making the bolognese…what kind of pork sausage would you suggest?
Spicy or mild Italian sausage or you could also use Italian turkey sausage.
This is what I’ve been looking for — true Italian flavor. Thanks for sharing.
Hi! I want to try this right now, but I dont have any fennel. Should I make it anyways? Is there something else I could add? Thanks!
I think you can eliminate it and it will still be great!
I am simmering my Bolognese….molto buono…thanks for sharing
this looks awesomely yummy! I would love for you to come link up if you have a minute 🙂
http://successful2gether.blogspot.com/2012/03/successful-saturday-link-up-week-6.html
Yum! I love that the meat of choice here is sausage as opposed to just ground beef or something. So much more flavor!
If you want to pass for an Italian, make this sauce, Mammma mia, it’s good!
I love home made sauce.. cant stand store bought either.. yek!