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Valerie's Bolognese Sauce

"I wanted a good meat sauce, but was having trouble finding that one recipe that knocked my socks off, so I altered a few and came up with my own. Of course, it goes well with all types of pasta and in the traditional Spaghetti ala Bolognese. But I also use this as my sauce in lasagna, baked ziti, pizza - you name it. It gives everything that extra oomph!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
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Valerie's Bolognese Sauce

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Valerie's Bolognese Sauce

4 servings
Prep15 min
Cook1 hr 40 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

716Calories
38 gProtein
38 gFat
52 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef, red wine):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef, red wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.