Jacques' Beef & Red Wine Bolognese

Jacques' Beef & Red Wine Bolognese

Some recipes are about more than dinner. They become part of the rhythm of family life, filling the house with comforting aromas, gathering everyone around the table, and quietly making the week ahead a little easier.

This hearty wood-fired Bolognese is one of those recipes. Slow-cooked until rich and deeply flavourful, it celebrates simple ingredients, a splash of BESTER Family Red, and the kind of patient cooking that rewards you with every spoonful. The wine adds depth and complexity to the sauce while naturally belonging on the table alongside the meal, creating a true farm-style feast to savour with family and friends.

Better still, this generous five-litre batch is made to work as hard as you do. Enjoy a bowl of classic Bolognese on the day it's cooked, then freeze the rest for quick, wholesome meals throughout the weeks ahead. From lasagna and cottage pie to wraps, toasties, tacos and enchiladas, one afternoon around the fire becomes the foundation for countless memorable family meals.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 kg ground beef (mince)

• 1 bunch celery, finely chopped

• 3 onions, finely chopped

• 800 g carrots, grated or finely chopped

• rind of ½ a lemon

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 4 sachets tomato paste (50 g each)

• 4 cans diced Italian tomatoes (400 g each)

• 3 tbsp cooking oil

• 375 ml BESTER Family Red

• 25 g Funky Ouma African BBQ Spice

• 250 ml milk

METHOD

1. Heat the cooking oil in a cast iron pot over a wood fire stove until very hot.

2. Add the mince and sear it. Stir in the Funky Ouma spice and mix through.

3. Break up the mince as fine as you like and keep cooking on high heat until most of the liquid has cooked out and the meat starts to caramelize (about 30 min).

4. Remove the caramelized mince and set aside in a separate container.

5. In the same hot pot, add the celery, onion, carrot, lemon rind, and garlic. Cook on high heat until it starts to caramelize.

6. Add the tomato paste and red wine, stirring to loosen the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook on high heat for about 30 min.

7. Add the mince back in and stir to combine.

8. Pour in the diced tomatoes, leaving them layered on top.

9. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 1–1.5 hours.

10. Stir, check nothing has caught on the bottom, and cover again for another 1–1.5 hours.

11. Stir in the milk at the end and let it simmer gently to finish.

12. Serve over your favorite pasta.