You say tomato, he says hell, no.
A “horrified” TikTok chef has considerable beef with the standard way people make a Bolognese meat sauce — and insists that a common ingredient is all wrong for the classic Italian favorite.
“This is a super simple dish — you do not need a jar of [tomato] sauce — which by the way is disgusting,” fumed @cookslasheat, in a video viewed almost 175,000 times.
A home chef dished on what makes Bolognese sauce stand out. TikTok / @cookslasheat“And you don’t even need tomato — not from a can, and not from a vine.”
Instead, the viral home cook doubles down that Bolognese is all about the meat. Other than tossing in a nice sofrito of onions, carrots, and some celery, the true flavor will come from how meat is browned, he added.
Focus on the meat over tomatoes, the chef suggests. Getty Images/iStockphoto
“I don’t want to see any grey meat,” the man warned.
Then, he suggests taking the meat out of the pan and letting the sofrito cook in its juices.
“Italians, look away,” he joked.
After the veggies have softened, add the meat back in, along with three tablespoons of tomato paste — the only tomato he insists you need — some garlic, a cup of red wine once it is caramelized, and a splash of water.
Then let it sit for one to three hours, and add in a little milk and pasta water when mixed with noodles.
“And if you want something that’s quick for dinner, don’t do something that needs to be slow-cooked,” he chastised corner-cutters.
He also captioned the clip, “Please do this you will thank me.”
Other chefs have also chimed in on another colossal decision that can make or break the dish — the type of pasta that is used.
The worst mistake you can make, they say, is choosing the very commonly used spaghetti — as it is too thin to adequately handle the dense sauce.
“Fresh tagliatelle is delicious and oh so satisfying to twirl onto your fork when you’re tucking into your dinner,”
